ALMA, Kan. (AP) – Kansas residents are cleaning up from another round of rural wildfires that have burned at least 18 square miles.
KSNT-TV reports that Alma City Councilmen Dan Deiter spent Wednesday sorting through debris at the Catholic school where he taught in northern Kansas. He says there was “no hope” for saving the building, which burned Tuesday.
In nearby Riley County, authorities say workers from a Kansas State University agriculture program started a fire that burned about 300 acres and destroyed a mobile home. Riley County emergency management director Pat Collins told The Manhattan Mercury that the workers had been building a fence with a torch or welder. About 100 mobile home residents were evacuated.
Fires also burned Tuesday in Morton County in southwest Kansas and Geary County in the north.
URGENT – FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
449 AM CDT THU APR 7 2016
REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY-POTTAWATOMIE-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS-WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON-
449 AM CDT THU APR 7 2016
…RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT THIS
EVENING FOR GUSTY WINDS…LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AND DRY FUELS.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 8 PM CDT THIS
EVENING. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
WIND…NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BE SUSTAINED AROUND 30 MPH WITH
GUSTS COMMONLY FROM 40 TO 45 MPH.
* HUMIDITY…MINIMUM HUMIDITY VALUES FROM 17 TO 23 PERCENT.
A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW….OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS…LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AND WARM TEMPERATURES CAN CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.
Geary County Rural Fire Chief Garry Berges has announced that a burning ban is now in effect in Geary County. No fire burn permits will be issued until sufficient rainfall is received.
Berges announced the ban after consulting with County Commission Chair Florence Whitebread.
He said rural firefighters were called out on two calls Wednesday, after battling multiple blazes on Tuesday including an estimated 6,000 acre grass fire in the southeast part of the county. On Wednesday firefighters responded southeast of Junction City to a rekindled blaze near Carr Road, and in the second smoke was reported near the RC Kennels business southeast of Junction City, but no fire was located. That business had been threatened by a rekindled grass fire earlier in the week but was not damaged.
Berges said the public should not do any outdoor burning of trash, and urged caution in the discarding of smoking materials.
During the past two days alone, approximately 35 firefighters have battled fires, and Berges indicated trucks and equipment also need to be checked after heavy use.
The new 701 North Jefferson home for Junction City Commission meetings was unveiled Tuesday evening.
Mayor Mick McCallister noted that the facility should help bring in more people that want to talk of the commission.
The building has been renovated and expanded, since it served as home for the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce. In addition to commission meetings, it will now house the Junction City Municipal Court operations.
The Junction City Commission has approved the awarding of a bid totaling $11,400 to Glessner Dirt Contracting for the demolition of a former restaurant building at 1032 South Washington.
The vacant building was the site of a fire some time ago.
Jill Biden ( center near Fort Riley Middle School banner ) meeting with teachers
The Second Lady of the United States Jill Biden made Fort Riley Middle School a stop on her visit to the Post this week.
She highlighted her Joining Forces Initiatve, and its’ Operation Educate the Educators Program which is designed to train teachers to recognize the needs of military-connected students in their classrooms. She met with a group of student teachers, noting she has been an educator for more than 30 years and has a military connection in her family. “We came with this program for Educate the Educators, because I thought it was important for people to know who those military children are in their classrooms. ”
Biden said she knows who has been in the military in her classrooms. “And so I ask that at the beginning of every semester. I find that they bring such rich experiences to what I’m teaching.” Biden explained as a grandmother she also saw the things that impacted her grandchildren.
She noted that she and Michelle Obama made that one of their pillars of the Joining Forces Initiative. “Education, what could we do in the space of education to make things better for military families. So the fact that you signed on, and all of you are so invested in this means so much to our military.”
During her visit to Fort Riley Middle School Biden toured classrooms and met with students and teachers. She participated in discussions with both the student teachers and students in the school’s media center. Biden also met school officials and community leaders during her time at the school.
FORT RILEY, Kan. – The 1st Infantry Division, as part of its continued dedication to mission readiness, will conduct a Warfighter exercise April 6-14 at Fort Riley, Kansas. This high-level training opportunity will better prepare the “Big Red One” headquarters and its subordinate units for any
mission, anywhere, at any time.
The Warfighter exercise will simulate realistic scenarios that the division must be prepared for. This is accomplished through virtual training systems that simulate battlefield conditions.
The exercise is conducted in a distributed manner and takes advantage of the
Total Army Force – U.S. Army troops working side by side with National Guard
and Army Reserve Soldiers.
The Big Red One will also be hosting a Community Day April 8.
Representatives from Junction City, Manhattan, Geary County, Riley County,
USD 475 and the Geary County Sheriff’s Department will be in attendance.
Also planning to attend is state Rep. Tom Philips, who represents Kansas’
District 67, home to the cities of Manhattan and Ogden.
“Our community partnerships have played a large role in getting our Soldiers
ready for this and other contingencies,” said Maj. Gen. Wayne W. Grigsby
Jr., 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley commanding general, in a message
to community leaders.
Dr. Biden meeting with students on Wednesday photos USD 475
FORT RILEY -Dr. Jill Biden visited teachers and students at Fort Riley Middle School on Wednesday.
The second-lady of the United States is in Kanas to celebrate the Month of the Military Child and as part of her Joining Forces initiative.
Dr. Biden is a lifelong educator and military mom. She is participating in several events in support of military children’s education.
She is meeting with active duty service members, military spouses and military-connected students and their teachers.
During the visit she highlighted the educational partnership between Fort Riley and Kansas State University as part of Operation Educate the Educators—an effort Dr. Biden launched through her Joining Forces initiative to train teachers to recognize the unique needs of military-connected students in their classrooms.
Full house at Tuesday’s Manhattan City Commission meeting
MANHATTAN-A packed city commission chamber in Manhattan on Tuesday discussed all sides of the city’s chapter 10, civil rights prohibition against discrimination and whether to add gender identity, sexual orientation to the ordinance.
Business owners, members of the clergy, students and other concerned citizens were given time to share their thoughts on the controversial issue.
The ordinance protects various classes of individuals and provides for equal opportunities for housing, employment, public accommodation and created a human rights and services board.
State or federal law in Kansas protects neither sexual orientation nor gender identity.
The decision to add gender identity would become a local issue governed only by the local ordinance.
The commission took no action.
If the change to the ordinance were approved, a formal hearing process would need to be established along with how to enforce it.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Latest on wildfires burning in Kansas and Oklahoma …all times local):
4:50 p.m.
Kansas authorities say wildfires in several Kansas counties have been largely contained.
The Kansas Adjutant General’s office said in an emailed statement Wednesday that the fires in the northeast Kansas counties of Wabaunsee, Geary, Riley and Pottawatomie are for the most part contained. The office says crews continue to monitor small smoldering patches in the region.
The office also says a grass fire in Morton County in southwest Kansas has been contained with the exception of hot spots.
The grassfire in northern Oklahoma is also no longer threatening Comanche County, Kansas.
The adjutant general’s office also says the State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka has returned to normal operations but is maintaining contact with local officials in the affected counties.
11:45 a.m.
More than 18 square miles of rangeland has burned in the latest Kansas wildfires.
Ben Bauman, spokesman for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Office, says two homes, one mobile home and at least eight outbuildings were destroyed Tuesday. Residents of several rural communities were urged to leave their homes before the blazes were brought mostly under control.
No injuries have been reported.
In northern Kansas, fires burned about 6,000 acres in Geary County, about 600 acres in Wabaunsee County and more than 1,500 acres in Riley County. Another 3,800 acres burned in Morton County in extreme southwest Kansas.
The blazes come less than a month after a fire that started in Oklahoma and spread into Kansas, burning hundreds of square miles. Most of the damage was in Kansas’ Barber County.
9 a.m.
photo by Garry Berges, Geary Co Emergency Manager
Crews are fighting wildfires in northern Kansas, where forecasters are warning of dangerous fire conditions.
Riley County emergency management director Pat Collins says embers from an approximately 300-acre fire started by fence welders destroyed a mobile home. Collins says crews are also battling a 1,000-acre blaze and a third fire that has burned several hundred acres elsewhere in Riley County.
In nearby Geary County, a fire that burned 6,000 acres of mostly pastureland Tuesday is under control. Assistant Geary County emergency manager Curt Janke says no homes burned.
Crews also have been fighting wildfires in Morton County in the southwest of the state and Wabaunsee County in the north, while keeping an eye on a large Oklahoma blaze to make sure it doesn’t cross into Kansas.
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RILEY COUNTY -The fire outbreak in Northeast Kansas has been largely contained, according to local officials.
Wabaunsee County authorities report approximately 600 acres were burned near the town of Alma. The fire is 75 percent contained as of 10 p.m.
Local fire officials have released the mutual aid responders from nearby counties and continue to monitor flare-ups. One house and one outbuilding are reported destroyed.
Riley County officials report 400-500 acres burned in the vicinity of Marlatt and U.S. 24, where approximately 100-150 residents were evacuated from a mobile home park. One mobile home was destroyed by fire. A shelter was opened in Cico Park in Manhattan.
Geary County officials report approximately 6,000 acres burned. The fire is 95 percent contained. No structures were lost.
A large grassfire destroyed one home and seven to eight outbuildings in the community of Wilburton in Morton County. The fire burned approximately 3,800 acres and is 95 percent contained.
Due to a shift in prevailing winds, a grassfire in Oklahoma is no longer threatening Comanche County, Kansas.
Six wildfires occurred in Pottawatomie County, burning an unknown amount of acreage. One garage was damaged, but officials are not certain the damage was related to the wildfire.
RILEY COUNTY -The fire outbreak in Northeast Kansas has been largely contained, according to local officials.
Wabaunsee County authorities report approximately 600 acres were burned near the town of Alma. The fire is 75 percent contained as of 10 p.m.
Local fire officials have released the mutual aid responders from nearby counties and continue to monitor flare-ups. One house and one outbuilding are reported destroyed.
Riley County officials report 400-500 acres burned in the vicinity of Marlatt and U.S. 24, where approximately 100-150 residents were evacuated from a mobile home park. One mobile home was destroyed by fire. A shelter was opened in Cico Park in Manhattan.
Geary County officials report approximately 6,000 acres burned. The fire is 95 percent contained. No structures were lost.
A large grassfire destroyed one home and seven to eight outbuildings in the community of Wilburton in Morton County. The fire burned approximately 3,800 acres and is 95 percent contained.
Due to a shift in prevailing winds, a grassfire in Oklahoma is no longer threatening Comanche County, Kansas.
Six wildfires occurred in Pottawatomie County, burning an unknown amount of acreage. One garage was damaged, but officials are not certain the damage was related to the wildfire.
By 10 p.m. Tuesday the fire on Burley Hill was 95% contained. No injuries were reported.
Rural Fire Chief Garry Berges said there were a few small spots burning where firefighters could not reach them.
“The storage shed at the Humboldt Cemetery caught fire briefly. Don’t know the extent of damage on that. A firefighter saw it and was able to get it put out right away.” Berges added no other structures were damaged during the fire.
Rough estimate, Berges thought probably 6,000 to 7,000 acres burned. People on Burley Hill Road who were evacuated were allowed to return to their homes.
As of 10 p.m. firefighters were having to deal with fire flare-ups in the Ridge Road area.
There were multiple other grass fires in the county Tuesday, with other agencies assisting in putting them out including Fragant Hills, Dickinson County Rural Fire District One, White City, Dwight, and Fort Riley Fire Departments.
—
A major fire consumed grassland in southeast Geary County on Tuesday.
Firefighters responded early Tuesday afternoon to the location in the K-57 area after a controlled burn from Monday rekindled with the gusty winds.
No injuries have been reported, but Geary County Rural Fire Chief Garry Berges said residents along a three to four mile stretch of Burley Hill road are being evacuated. He indicated that involves approximately 8 to 9 homes.
Berges estimated 50 to 60 firefighters plus are battling the blaze. “We’ve got support from Dickinson County, from White City Fire Department, the Dwight Fire Department, I believe also the Alta Vista Fire Department fighting that and other multiple fires throughout Geary County. ”
Berges added that he spoke with County Commission Chair Florence Whitebread. “We’ve got an emergency declaration for Geary County which gives us ability to pull in more resources as we need them, and also to, if this goes big enough, maybe get some sort of reimbursement.”
ALMA, Kan. (AP) – Kansas residents are cleaning up from another round of rural wildfires that have burned at least 18 square miles.
