Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation, Kansas National Guard, will fly missions on Saturday, March 26, to support firefighting efforts in south central Kansas, according to a media release.

Each Black Hawk is manned by a 4-person crew, and will be equipped with a 660 gallon Bambi bucket, which can scoop water from local water sources to dump on the flames. In addition to the aircraft, the 108th is sending a fuel tanker truck and another ground support vehicle with 2 crewmembers each.

The Kansas Division of Emergency Management continues to monitor the grass fires and is coordinating resources. The State Emergency Operations Center in Topeka is activated at a 24-hour watch level.

Current estimates indicate approximately 300,000 acres have been burned. No injuries or fatalities have been reported as a result of the fires, but five homes have been destroyed along with multiple outbuildings and an unknown number of livestock have been lost. Two bridges in Barber County have also been reported destroyed.
Barber, Comanche, Harvey and Reno Counties have all issued state of local disaster emergency declarations and Gov. Sam Brownback signed a State of Disaster Emergency declaration March 23 for all affected counties. The state requested and was granted a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant for Barber and Comanche Counties.