Several firefighters were in peril last Friday as some battled a pair of blazes on top of triple-digit temperatures.

A pair of grass fires burned dozens of acres and up to 100 hay bales in flareups that began early in the afternoon and burned into the nighttime hours.

The first fire was reported to the Kingfisher Fire Department at 1:09 p.m.

The call concerned a fire that was in the east ditch just off U.S. Highway 81 between County Road E770 (Kloeppel’s Corner) and E760 (Lemon Road).

Kingfisher Fire Department was on the scene within seven minutes and had it under control by 2:42 p.m.

In the meantime, the fire burned pasture on the east side of U.S. 81, but also spread west across the highway, temporarily shutting down traffic in both directions, and into pasture on the west side.

Kingfisher was joined at the scene by Kingfisher County Emergency Management and fire departments from Okarche, Loyal and Dover.

Not long after the Kingfi sher fire, there were reports of another northwest of Dover.

The fire was reported about 1 1/4 mile north of the Cimarron River bridge on N2830 Road (north of Red Fork Drive).

Although no structures were damaged, Emergency Management Director Ryan Deatherage estimated just under a quarter-section (160 acres) burned and about 100 bales.

Firemen struggled to contain this larger fire, which was bolstered by strong south winds.

Joining Dover on the scene were departments from Loyal, Big Four, Okeene, Omega, Okarche, Cashion, Kingfisher, Deer Creek, Langston, Coyle, Twin Lakes, Crescent, Greenfield, Longdale, Hitchcock, Watonga and Canton.

A Kingfisher ambulance transported two firemen to the hospital and Deatherage did the same with one other as they suffered from heat exhaustion and/or smoke inhalation.

Deatherage said several firefighters - men and women - were also treated at the scene for those issues.

The high temperature on Friday was 110 degrees, according to local weather observer Steve Loftis.

Deatherage said a motorist reported a chain dragging behind a vehicle on U.S. 81, which he said is suspected to have caused a spark that ignited the fire near Kingfi sher.

He said the timing of the fires matched up if that vehicle also took the route northwest of Dover.

“But that’s pure speculation,” Deatherage said. “We certainly don’t have a definite answer on that.”