Geary County Rural Fire
Just before noon on Tuesday, 9-1-1 Dispatch received numerous calls about spot fires east of Junction City in the area of mile post 313 on I-70.
As fire units got closer, several large smoke columns were observed. Geary County Fire requested assistance from Grandview Plaza Fire, and Riley County Fire. The fires were found to be on the north side of I-70 and due to the strong southerly winds, the fires were racing north. This was on the Konza Prairie Research area. Konza fire crews were also fighting the fires. Upon arrival, three main fires were located. Riley County Fire was assigned to the east fire, Geary County Fire and Grandview Plaza Fire were assigned to the center fire, and the Konza crew along with a Geary County Fire unit took care of the west fire. Units used direct fire suppression and controlled backburning to control each of the fires.
Additional resources including Ft. Riley Fire and the Dickinson County Fire Task Force was requested and once on scene, were assigned to assist with fire suppression. Shawnee County Fire Task Force was headed our way, but was cancelled before arriving. Kansas Division of Emergency Management, Kansas Forestry, and Kansas Fire Marshal's Office, and Geary County Sheriff's Department were also on scene. Units were on scene until about 4:30pm.
Rough estimates is over 1300 acres were burned during the fires today. It is believed that the fires were caused by a dragging chain on a moving vehicle.