Several area fire departments have been deployed to southwest Kansas to help with firefighting efforts.
The East Central Kansas Task Force, as it’s being called, has been dispatched to Bucklin as a staging point at the request of the Office of Kansas State Fire Marshal.
In a social media post announcing the deployment early Sunday, the Hartford-Neosho Rapids Fire Department referred to Sunday’s weather conditions in southwest Kansas as “extremely challenging” — and that could well be an understatement. Air temperatures will rise to near 100 degrees and will combine with southwest winds between 25-45 mph and relative humidity levels in the single digits to make for “intense and unpredictable” fire behavior.
Red flag warnings cover most of west and southwest Kansas because of critical fire danger. Several significant grass fires remain active, including a fire in Seward county burning over 6,700 acres and is about 30 percent contained. Several fires in Clark County are working on what’s called the County Road 16 fire, while the so-called Meade Lake fire has already affected over 44,000 acres — as well as closing Meade State Park until further notice and Meade Public Schools on Friday.
Besides Hartford-Neosho Rapids, the response from the East Central Kansas Task Force includes Olpe; Coffey County District 1 involving Lebo and LeRoy; Osage County District 3 including Melvern and Olivet; and Lyon County Emergency Management. Nearly 15 different task forces from across Kansas and, in at least one case, Colorado, are either on scene or traveling to southwest Kansas to help.
Click here for KVOE’s YouTube channel, including an update from Sunday morning’s situation.
