14 April 2023
ELLIS COUNTY, Kan. (KSNW) — A wildfire north of Hays Thursday burned for almost eight hours and charred 610 acres of land, but no homes or buildings burned. Ellis County said some of the credit goes to farmers who showed up to help.
The Ellis County Fire Department got the call of a large grass fire near Codell Road and Saline River Road around 5:05 p.m.
Because of the wind and location, more firefighters were called in from the surrounding area. As they tried to put the fire out, their visibility was hampered because of blowing dust and smoke.
The state is under an emergency declaration for fire weather, so Ellis County also requested help from the Kansas Forest Service and Air Tanker 95, a plane out of Hutchinson. The plane dropped several loads of water on the north end of the fire where a lot of trees were burning.
By 7:19 p.m., the fire was under control but not out. Firefighters put out hot spots until 1:15 Friday morning, then stayed to make sure the fire did not start back up.
A wildfire burns in Ellis County on April 13, 2023. (Photo courtesy Keith Haberer, Russell County Emergency Manager)
A wildfire burns in Ellis County on April 13, 2023. (Photo courtesy Keith Haberer, Russell County Emergency Manager)
“In addition to the efforts of the firefighters, a great impact to the success of extinguishing the fire was from the many different farmers on scene with farm implements and local business who hauled water to the fire department,” he said.
Ellis County Fire Chief Darin Myers said an oil field power line likely started the fire. The fire burned for 1.6 miles and was about .75 miles wide. No structures burned, and there were no injuries.