CCTV Captures Oklahoma Fire Destroying Camping Home in Seconds
"I have never seen footage like this," the owner of the camping home said, adding that "the aftermath of everything is unreal."
A video showing a camping home being consumed by fire near Stillwater, where dozens of homes have been completely destroyed by wildfires that ripped through the city in Oklahoma, has gone viral on TikTok. The harrowing viral clip posted by TikTok user @jakestreck, which features footage from a home security camera, shows a view of the fire from inside the camping home in Lake Carl Blackwell, located just few miles from Stillwater. The clip has amassed 10.1 million views since it was shared on March 16. The video begins with ominous, thunderous sounds of the fire echoing outside, before dark plumes of smoke and blazes of fire begin close in on the home within seconds. Minutes later, loud crashing sounds are heard as the entire home is engulfed in flames, before the screen turns a fiery purplish hue as the clip ends. A note overlaid on the video simply says: "And just like that it was all gone." In later comments, the poster said: "As a fellow firefighter for 17 1/2 years, I have never seen footage like this, bad thing it had to be my own. And the aftermath of everything is unreal," adding that "good thing everyone is safe." "It wasn't much, but it was our little home away from home," the poster wrote in the caption shared with a subsequent video, noting they only had the camping home for four months. More than 130 wildfires have ravaged over three dozen counties in Oklahoma since Friday, with millions threatened by extreme weather across the region. A satellite image released by the NASA Earth Observatory captured the dramatic plumes of smoke coming from the fires in Oklahoma that have devastated the state since Friday. At least four people have died and 200 have been injured in Oklahoma in the wake of the wildfires, which have burned at least 179,000 acres of the state, with over 400 homes severely damaged or destroyed by the fires. Dozens of violent tornadoes triggered by the same storm system behind the wildfires, some of which hit Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, have killed at least 42 people across six states. A state of emergency is in place in Stillwater as well as in 12 counties across Oklahoma due to the impact of the "dangerous wildfires and straight-line-winds," the state governor's office said in an executive order issued on Saturday. A Red Flag Warning is in effect through this evening in several parts of Oklahoma and Texas, which means "critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly," the National Weather Service (NWS) notes. The national weather body warns that "a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures will contribute to extreme fire behavior" and "any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly." A wind advisory also remains in place through this evening in portions of central, east central, southeast, southern and southwest Oklahoma as well as northern Texas, the NWS said, with winds from 25 to 35 miles per hour and gusts of up to 55 miles per hour expected. "Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result," the NWS warned, advising drivers to use extra caution as "winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles."Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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