Johnston County Oklahoma was covered Wednesday by a thick blanket of smoke as several wild fires fueled by high winds scorched hundreds of acres.

Four fires were burning at the same time and firefighters were busy keeping the flames under control.
Due to the thick smoke police were on scene telling drivers to slow down because firefighters could be concealed by the smoke while working to put out the flames.

Fire Officials believe the grass fire began as a controlled burn that got out of control.
"When you burn you need to keep the wind down, so this is not a good day to be burning” said nearby resident Kennie Justice.

The burn ban in Johnston County, as well as several surrounding counties, was just recently lifted.
After today’s fires, many wonder about whether or not the ban should be reinstated.

"The burn ban has just been lifted I’d bet anything that the fire chiefs go to the county commissioners on Monday and ask for the ban to be reinstated" said incident commander Kenny Power.

Josh Stevenson First News