Cleanup continues in Mannford as students head back to school

Students returned to class in Mannford on Thursday after being out for two weeks due to the devastation caused by wildfires.

While life begins to return to normal for students, the cleanup is far from over.

A lot of support has poured into Green Country to help fire victims.

Immediate needs, such as food and clothing, have been met. Longer-term needs, like a portable laundromat and shower unit, are now in Mannford, and volunteers to clean up destroyed homes arrived on Wednesday.

A lakeside home in Creek County was a total loss in the wildfire, but on the ground, volunteers are working to restore some hope. A Texas Baptist team sifted through the ashes, saving what little was left and clearing away the rest.

“We will take and clean the slabs and take the brick, knock it down, so the family can go ahead and start rebuilding,” said Benny Williams.

That’s no small job, so they bring both heavy equipment and the willing hands of volunteers who work 10 days straight before replacements arrive.

“They came and rescued us in 2013; we had a terrible flood,” Gordon Ingils said.

He has been helping out after disasters like this for five years.

“A lot of different floods, fires, all of that, and this is pretty bad, from what I’ve seen,” said Ingils.

The disaster relief team separates out the metal — the air conditioners and kitchen sinks — and they’ll scrape the rest down to the slab. It’s slow, backbreaking work, done quickly and at no cost for anyone willing to let them do it.

“We just feel sorry for the families who had to go through all this, and we’re grateful to Oklahoma Baptists who asked us to come help,” Williams said.

Other teams are working now in Pawnee County, near Cleveland and Terlton. More Baptist teams are on the way.

In Mannford, at First Baptist, there’s always a meal ready for anyone who needs it, and now laundry and shower space as well.