Several Lyon County fire departments spent a little more than an hour fighting a grass fire northeast of Emporia on Sunday afternoon.
The fire in the 1300 block of Road 210, around four miles northeast of Emporia’s north city limits, was reported just after 1 pm after a controlled burn went out of control due to a change in wind direction and was listed as out shortly before 2:10 pm. Less than 10 acres and part of a tree line burned, but there were no injuries and no structures damaged.
Fire conditions will be a more widespread concern Monday, and the National Weather Service has issued a fire weather watch from 12-7 pm involving Lyon and all surrounding counties. Chase and Greenwood counties are also in a wind advisory for that same time period.
High temperatures in the 60s will combine with dry grasses despite recent rainfall, southwesterly winds as high as 40 mph and relative humidity levels below 32 percent to lead to critical weather conditions. Fire weather watches typically lead to red flag warnings, which in turn lead to automatic burn bans for affected area counties. Recent rain has also made for muddy conditions, which could make it hard for firefighters to reposition equipment if fires develop.
Chase County has announced a county-only burn ban for Monday.
Stay with KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media for updates.
