OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Latest on wildfires burning in the Southwest and Southern Plains states (all times local):
9a.m.
Officials say fires that crossed from Colorado into Kansas have been contained.
Katie Horner, a state emergency management spokeswoman, said Wednesday that some structures have been destroyed but that state officials are awaiting damage assessments before releasing more details.
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer has issued a disaster declaration. It isn’t clear how much land has burned there. Horner says no injuries have been reported.
The fire risk is dropping in Kansas, where temperatures have dropped from highs in the lower to mid-80s to around 60. Wind gusts of 40 mph are forecast, half as strong as on Tuesday. Buller said the fire risk has shifted south into western Oklahoma.
In Colorado, fire crews on Tuesday battled fast-moving, wind-sparked blazes that stretched from the Denver area northward and eastward toward Kansas.
High winds and gusts up to 80 mph (130 kph) blasted the state, tipping tractor-trailers, uprooting trees, hurling furniture and whipping up dust.
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MORTON COUNTY —Gov. Jeff Colyer, M.D., issued a verbal disaster declaration for several western Kansas counties battling wildland fires late Tuesday. In addition, a large wildland fire that originated in Colorado crossed into Kansas affecting Stanton and Morton Counties, according to a the State Adjutant General’s Office.
U.S. 40 was closed from Sharon Springs west to the Colorado state line due to a fire along the highway and low visibility.
Local firefighters are being assisted by crews from multiple surrounding Kansas and Colorado counties. UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the Nebraska National Guard have been requested and will arrive Wednesday afternoon.
Approximately 90 homes have been evacuated from the two counties, including homes in the town of Richfield in Morton County. A shelter has been established for residents displaced by the fire in Morton County at the Elkhart City Hall, 433 Morton. At this time, the shelter has no people staying there.
The State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka will remain staffed 24/7 by personnel from the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, the Kansas National Guard, Office of the State Fire Marshal, Kansas Forest Service, Department of Children and Families and the American Red Cross. Other emergency support function agencies may be requested as the situation develops.