The fire you've never heard about

[coyotecreek]

This video does a good job of showing the devastation from the fires in Kansas last week. 400,000 acres burned in about 6 hours fueled by 100 mph wind gusts. Several people lost homes, buildings, vehicles, pasture, crops, fencing, livestock, and some even lost their life. We are very dry, not having received any precipitation in several months. The firefighters and farmers did a tremendous job of stopping these fires before they spread even further. The electrical line workers did a tremendous job of getting power restored.

I'm not sure why it hasn't gotten national attention, maybe it doesn't fit the media's narrative of "climate change". Any help is appreciated, even if all you can offer is your prayers. It's a very sad situation, but people who live on these plains are the toughest of the tough, and will bounce back.

Here is a link to several ways that you can help. https://hayspost.com/posts/68c0142d-3f01-4a21-bc42-ee0d6e6bcccf

 

[ewade07]

If its not in CA or CO no one seems to care...

 

[justin davis]

I went on a fire in Kansas few years ago by dodge city. It was a very large grass fire A lot of acres

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I don't watch TV at all but I did read couple stories on different on line news feeds. I think fires which threaten more populated ares tend to make the news.

 

[CorbLand]

Okay

Very thoughtful, well thought out post. We appreciate you taking the time to respond.

OP, thanks for posting this. I dont watch the news ever and had no idea about this. I will go through your link and donate when I have some time.

 

[AZ8]

Tough to watch.

Sadly, vast forests burning along side McMansions vs grassland fires is more “newsworthy”. News is about $$ only.

 

[Skerhunter]

I can't imagine a grass fire under these conditions! Thankfully no lives were lost (that I have heard of). These folks will need a lot of help this next year to get their operations up and running again.

 

[coyotecreek]

I can't imagine a grass fire under these conditions! Thankfully no lives were lost (that I have heard of). These folks will need a lot of help this next year to get their operations up and running again.

There were a couple of people killed in vehicle accidents because of zero visibility, and another individual who got caught in the fire that died. There may be others, but these are the ones that I have heard of.

The speed that the fire spread amazed me. You hear of fires in the mountains burning 400,000 acres, but it takes weeks. This only took a few hours.

I suppose that many of your are right that when a fire doesn't threaten a large population it doesn't get the attention. I don't watch the news either, but I wanted to make more people aware of this and try to reach out to help these people as much as possible. Luckily we were not in the path of the fire, but only a few miles away.

 

[Azone]

Terrible to hear this. Is there anything setup for donations for those that lost their homes?
I’ve watched a house burn to the ground with all my stuff inside once, completely lost everything at one point.

 

[coyotecreek]

Terrible to hear this. Is there anything setup for donations for those that lost their homes?
I’ve watched a house burn to the ground with all my stuff inside once, completely lost everything at one point.

Sorry to hear that. I can't imagine.
Everything that I know of is at this link.
Click here

 

[Donjuan]

Terrible to hear this. Is there anything setup for donations for those that lost their homes?
I’ve watched a house burn to the ground with all my stuff inside once, completely lost everything at one point.

If you visit kla.org you can donate there

 

[Squincher]

I can't imagine a grass fire under these conditions! Thankfully no lives were lost (that I have heard of). These folks will need a lot of help this next year to get their operations up and running again.

It is crazy how fast prairie grass can take off. I'm surprised it only burned what it did with the winds they had out there.

 

[Rob5589]

Damn. 400k acres in 6 hours seems impossible. Even here in CA, burn central, it will take days or weeks to burn that much. Just crazy.

 

[Clearedhot1]

Jesus. We only heard about it here (WI/IL state line) because we could smell it. The news did a quick blurb regarding the smoke origin but that’s it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dieselchessy]

Millions of acres of forest burn every year in Alaska. Doesn’t even hardly make the state news. Maybe last year or the year before they had torrential rains and massive landslides all through SE Alaska killing people, trapping people, cutting off utilities and transportation and I only knew cause my family lives there.
I don’t think Kansas is alone in not making the national news.

Sounds like a tragic situation. Hopefully folks are able to press on and rebuild.

 

[Donjuan]

I am located in Holton KS. If anyone has anything they want to donate, I am taking a trailer load Monday. We are gathering barbed wire and posts for the ranchers. Anything is welcome....clothes for those who lost homes. Christmas cookies for volunteers.


Trailer is leaving Heartland Veterinary Health Center at 8am 27th

 

[journeyman713]

Not to diminish the importance of your fire in Kansas. It sounds horrible for sure. But when I read your title, I thought you were talking about a very different fire.
There is only one fire in US history that fits - "The Fire You Never Heard About".

When you think of the biggest fires in US history, The Great Chicago Fire, may come to mind. It's not. It's not even the biggest fire, that day. Look up The Peshtigo Fire. It happened here in Wisconsin.

The Peshtigo Fire

 

[MuleyFever]

Damn. 400k acres in 6 hours seems impossible. Even here in CA, burn central, it will take days or weeks to burn that much. Just crazy.

Looks like they updated it to 163,000 acres.

Update: Wind-fueled wildfires burn more than 100k acres across Kansas

The Kansas Forest Service just announced a revision to the total acres burned in last week’s wildfires.

www.kwch.com

 

[Dos Perros]

My in-law’s farm donated two semi flat beds of alfalfa up there, around $9k worth. They stepped up a few years ago too when there were fires in the southern part of the state.

My father in law is just an awesome dude. The first time I ever visited them overnight there was a big snowstorm and lots of folks lost power. No one asked, but he had me up before the sun and we ran around and delivered portable generators to folks he knew that didn’t have power. He has the biggest heart and loves his community and state and fellow Americans.

 

[coyotecreek]

My in-law’s farm donated two semi flat beds of alfalfa up there, around $9k worth. They stepped up a few years ago too when there were fires in the southern part of the state.

My father in law is just an awesome dude. The first time I ever visited them overnight there was a big snowstorm and lots of folks lost power. No one asked, but he had me up before the sun and we ran around and delivered portable generators to folks he knew that didn’t have power. He has the biggest heart and loves his community and state and fellow Americans.

That is awesome! Sounds like a great guy. It's always neat to see how people step up to help others out in devastating situations.