UPDATE (3/25) - The Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency said residents in the area of the Gem Dirt Fire near 101st and 33rd west should be prepared for an increase in smoke and dust in the air as crews from a multi-state task force are on site to assist Jenks fire with extinguishing the mulch pile fire.
Residents with known respiratory issues should shelter in doors as the smoke and dust from the crews work may cause air quality to diminish temporarily.
Jenks Mayor Cory Box said the city is working on an emergency declaration for the city. This would be the first time the city's done this since the 2019 floods.
—
JENKS, Okla. — For Jenks' Southern Reserve neighborhood, it's been seven days of non-stop smoke inhalation.
Some have evacuated, others have seen doctors and are facing health issues, but all are frustrated and want answers.
“We’re constantly breathing this in there’s no reprieve from it," said HOA President Jason Reed.
He, like so many others in the neighborhood, has been worried about what exactly is burning in the mulch.
“It’s in our cars, it’s in our clothes, it's in our lungs, it's in our couches, it’s in our home," said Reed. "I’m sure we're breathing something we’re not supposed to be."
Reed told 2 News from his conversations with Jenks Fire Department, they have said they don't have enough water to fight the smoldering mulch.
Local News
Smoke from Jenks mulch fire creates concerns for residents
"Simply to say – and they have been on record saying this - is that we just have to wait til the next rain for this to go away, that’s unacceptable," he said.
Mayor Cory Box is in agreement. He posted to Facebook asking for city and state leaders to come together to help figure out a solution for the residents.
For people like Claira White, she can't wait for the smoke to subside.
With an almost two-year-old and pregnant with her second, White and her husband decided it wasn't safe to be living so close to Gem Dirt. They evacuated voluntarily on March 18 — one day after the fire started.
"The smoke is way worse than the fire ever was," she said. "And it is just still going with no end in sight. They tell us that water won’t help, they tell us dirt won’t help, that there’s really nothing they can do, and we’re already out of our house for a week so we don’t know what to do.”
From the one night of sleeping at home, and a few hours in a mask cleaning up the ash that's made it's way into her home, White said she is dealing with respiratory issues.
"We have been trying to be safe, but it's very very frustrating," said White. "I just can't bring my toddler in my house right now."
And down the street from her, Sarah Gray also frustrated. She feels like no one is taking accountability.
“I’m asking for this to be taken seriously and considered an emergency because to us, it is," said Gray.
Gray calls this whole thing a jurisdictional nightmare.
While she and her neighbors being most effected live in Jenks city limits, Gem Dirt sits in Tulsa County. Mayor Box said he believes it may be unincorporated, which is why agencies have been unsure who needs to be handling the smoke.
Gray told us her two young kids are showing signs of smoke inhalation, with coughs and puffy eyes since the fire. They can't even escape it at school, she said.
She said she asked if Gem Dirt treated the mulch with chemicals, and was told no. However, that hasn't put her mind totally at ease.
“People treat their lawns, and that is a place where you can take and drop off that organic material and they’ll turn that into compost," said Gray. "That’s my concern, are people pretreating their lawns for certain things and then that’s now smoldering and settling over our neighborhood everyday."
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- SUBSCRIBE on YouTube
