KIOWA -Comanche County emergency management coordinator John Lehman says the fire has burned about 38,000 acres in the sparsely populated county.
The fire started Tuesday night near the Kansas border in Woods County, Oklahoma. Wind gusts of up to 30 mph helped spread the blaze into Barber and Comanche counties in western Kansas, according to the National Weather Service.
Visible image of the smoke plume from the fires in south central Kansas.#kswx pic.twitter.com/UpjisJ8tpg
— NWS Dodge City (@NWSDodgeCity) March 23, 2016
No injuries have been reported. It wasn’t immediately known how much land had burned in Oklahoma and Kansas’ Barber County.
Lehman says about 65 fire trucks and hundreds of firefighters are helping to gradually contain the blaze.
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COMANCHE COUNTY – A massive grass fire that includes Comanche and Barber counties in Kansas and extends into Oklahoma has burned over 17,000 acres, according to a social media report from the Oklahoma Forestry Service. Dozens of fire crews continue to battle the blaze.
Why you may smell smoke this am. Satellite imagery shows rapid growth of a grass fire that began last night. #kswx pic.twitter.com/8YytC5t99o
— NWS Wichita (@NWSWichita) March 23, 2016
The fire that started on Tuesday in Woods County Oklahoma and moved northeast into Kansas has shut down U.S. 160 from Sun City Road to Coldwater due to the smoke, according to the Coldwater Police Department.
Residents in the area were evacuated. No injuries are reported.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation..