Velma News

Another Fourth of July will quickly be upon America and people across the country are starting to stockpile fireworks in expectation of the celebration on Saturday.

Authorities say straight-line winds caused some damage and knocked out electricity as severe thunderstorms rolled across southern Oklahoma.

Straight-line winds caused some damage and knocked out electricity as severe thunderstorms rolled across southern Oklahoma on Wednesday, authorities said.

Marriage Licenses Richard Joel David, 20, and Joketta Ann Tucker, 20, both of Duncan.

In 1967, during the celebration of the city of Duncan's 75th anniversary, Sudie Thornton Sharp was crowned as Founder's Day queen in a ceremony at the Wade Hotel.

The seniors of Velma-Alma High School met at a crossroads Thursday night. Each robed themselves in traditional school colors and crowned their heads with mortarboards.

Lottie Lorene Jameson, 90, of Mangum, died Saturday, April 25, 2009, at Mangum Community Hospital.

There's a teacher in Velma, Oklahoma who brings her blind and deaf dog into her 4th grade classroom every year to teach children how to have compassion.

A grass fire erupted near Bray off of Duncan Lake Road Wednesday afternoon shortly after a pickup truck got stuck in some tall grass.

On April 9, fires destroyed 15 homes in the Velma community. The following Monday, members of the Velma-Alma Beta Club knew they had to help those in need.

Mullins Baptist Association's emergency response team was activated at about 4 p.m. Thursday to assist with the needs of both the victims of Thursday's raging grass fires in the Velma area and the firefighters who were in the field.

On April 9, fires ravaged Velma, destroying 15 homes and businesses in the community.

Fire crews continued to work in the Choctaw area, trying to put out hotspots as they flared up.

UPDATE 5: Officials say several wildfires have broken out in Texoma this afternoon, including Stephens County, Carter County, Archer County, Wichita County near Electra, Clay County, the City of Comanche, and Hulen.

Glyna Bennett and her husband of 20 years, Robert Houston, sat at a local convenience store table Saturday to kill time and reflect.

Stephens County_UPDATE 2: A large fire near the town of Velma burns this morning, but there is good news.

Large grass fires caused residents in Velma and Loco to evacuate Thursday to the Stephens County Fairgrounds.

Firefighters worked Friday to douse the remnants of wind-driven wildfires in western and central Oklahoma that left at least 34 people injured and more than 100 homes destroyed.

Firefighters are working to contain a wildfire in Velma. High winds are causing the blaze to rapidly spread.

Velma_Wildfires devastated Texoma Thursday, and many homes went up in flames. 7News has been covering the fires across the area since they sparked as homes, land, and businesses were lost to the damaging fires.