28 February 2024
SEWARD COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — An eight-acre fire caused extensive damage to homes and property in an unincorporated part of Seward County, east of Liberal.
Kerri Edmunds had just got off work and returned home when she received a message from a friend asking if she was OK. She walked out of her front door to see smoke everywhere and her neighbors’ trees across the street on fire.
Edmunds said this was not the home remodel she had planned.
“I said to my husband, you know I always said I wanted a new house; I didn’t want to do it this way, though,” said Edmunds.
Thankfully, her two kids were at school, and her husband was at work when the fire started just after noon. She watched the fire spread, along with her neighbors, feeling helpless.
“We all kind of huddled up and just watched in awe; I mean, there’s not really much you can do,” said Edmunds.
Edmunds said her daughter’s room was hit the hardest, but to her, it felt like all eight years of experiences in the home vanished, for one instance.
“Your initial thought is, all my hard work, everything that I’ve worked so hard for, and it’s going up in smoke,” said Edmunds.
The Seward County Fire Chief, Andrew Barkley, said the eight-acre fire took off through the neighborhood, damaging six homes. He said fighting the fire was a joint effort by multiple departments involving about two dozen firefighters.
Barkley said sometimes the weather outguns them, and they are left playing catch-up.
“Residents that come up to you ‘where’s my house’ and your house is here, and they’re hugging you and telling you ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’ and then the next one walks up to you, and you’re like ‘no, sorry we couldn’t save your house’ and they’re on the ground balling,” said Barkley.
Edmunds is grateful for the local support but is uncertain about what’s next.
“We’re very fortunate that we have the community that we have, and they have reached out and said what we can do, and unfortunately, right now, it’s kind of a waiting game,” said Edmunds.
She said the Red Cross was out making sure everyone had the necessities last night. Her family will be staying with relatives in town until they wait to see what’s salvageable.
Two firefighters did have heat exhaustion but were cleared at a local hospital. The fire is now being investigated by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.