STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) — The process of starting over is just beginning for hundreds of Oklahomans who lost everything in last Friday's wildfire outbreak. Leaders in at least one county are trying to ease some of the burden. In hard-hit Payne County, officials have released their game plan when looking to save affected property owners money, as well as big headaches in the future. "It's important to let people know that there are tools available to them," Glenna Craig, Payne County Clerk said. Oklahoma Insurance Department offering tips to residents impacted by wildfires Tons of destruction and devastation can be seen across Payne County, with dozens of homes, campers, and thousands of acres of property reduced to ashes. Now, the county wants to help those starting over. "This situation is unique because the statutes of the state of Oklahoma give us the ability to come into that same physical year and remove the tax implication," said Jason Gomez, Payne County Assessor. If you have damage, no matter how big or small, the Payne County Assessor's Office needs to hear from you. "We may take off a value of, say, a pole barn that it spared your house, but it took out your pole barn, that pole barn as a taxable improvement," said Gomez. "The value of that pole barn would be removed for the tax preparation of the 2025 tax year. You lost your entire home, then the entire value, the taxable value, and all of those improvements would be removed for that year of 2025." In addition, county leaders say it is also good to sign up for fraud protection if you haven't already. "It's a free system to our public, and they can come in and register or they can get it online," said Craig. Craig says property fraud is one of the fastest-growing scams in America right now; that is, someone claiming another person's property is theirs. "If somebody came in and filed a document trying to convey that property into another name, they will immediately get an alert," Craig said. "They can either get a text message alert or they can get an email alert." Both Craig and Gomez say it's better to tackle both of these tasks sooner rather than later. "No matter how minimal you think your damage is, let us know," Gomez said. "Let us make a decision on how it can ultimately affect you and your tax bill for 2025." "Every tool we can find and adapt to help our citizens, we're going to do it," said Craig. To file your losses, you can email Gomez at jgomez@paynecountyassessor.org. To register for free property fraud alert, follow this link countyclerk.paynecounty.org. ...read more read less