TOPEKA — Wildfires are burning thousands of acres in southwest Kansas, and emergency management personnel from across the state are working to gain control and keep communities safe.
Bill Waln, state fire management officer at the Kansas Forest Service, said winds shifted as crews were fighting a Clark County fire, pushing it out of containment.
“That’s the one that’s pushed us around a little bit,” he said. “It made a run north toward Minneola yesterday.”
Waln said firefighters were unable to contain the fire on the south end after a cold front came through and the wind switched directions. As a result, a few rural homes west of Ashland are being evacuated as a precaution.
“Right now, we are actively engaged in a fast-moving fire that’s moving south in Clark County toward Highway 160,” he said. “If we get it right now, Ashland is not threatened. But if we get any kind of a westerly wind shift to it, then we can see some evacuations in Ashland itself.”
Waln said officials are moving resources to the area to contain the fire’s spread.
Multiple fires started in southwest Kansas after a lightning storm hit the area Thursday, he said.
“We have such continued dry fuels down there that were just very receptive to lightning,” Waln said. “Normally we wouldn’t have to worry about it this time of the year.”
Most of the fires in Morton County were on U.S. Forest Service lands, and personnel and resources were brought out of the Colorado Forest Service and the federal government to fight them, he said.
In Meade County, small fires merged into the largest fire the state is fighting, Waln said. It was at nearly 93,000 acres about 3:45 p.m. Monday, according to the Western Fire Chiefs fire tracking map.
Although large, that fire is being managed, and Waln said he expects it to be fully contained by mid-week.
Numerous fire departments from across the state have sent help to the area, although the current tornadic weather forecast for northeast Kansas is causing some to return home to support their communities, Waln said.
Waln encouraged anyone living near the fires to stay informed; be ready to evacuate, thinking of things like medications, personal documents and other items they might need to take with them; and not hesitate when personnel say they need to evacuate. It’s important people are prepared to leave well before the fire gets to their location, he said.
Waln also said land and homeowners can do a lot before fires start to protect their property, such as removing shrubs and plants near buildings.
This story previously appeared in the Kansas Reflector.
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