Sunday brush fire burns around 200 acres, triggers evacuation

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Around 200 acres burned in northern Riley County during a brush fire Sunday following the rekindling of a controlled burn.

The fire, which took place in the 8500 block of Condray Rd,, forced the evacuation of one family, but no structures were damaged.

While most local fires involve grass and brush, this one involved several mature trees.

“I haven’t seen flames like this since I saw a true forest fire in Colorado,” said Lt Ross Hauck, a volunteer with Riley County Fire District #1.

Two other brush fires took place Sunday, one of which occurred near 18055 Bjorling Rd., burning around 20 acres and prompting the assistance of crews from Pottawatomie County and the Olsburg Fire Department.

The other took place in northern Riley County. This fire prompted the response of Marshall County Fire services due to to Riley County crews being busy with other fires.

A couple wildfires also took place earlier in the weekend.

One took place Friday, burning around 600 acres in northern Riley County.

During Monday’s Riley County Commission meeting, Stukey emphasized the importance of rechecking extinguished controlled burns to make sure they are completely out.

“We probably had 30 or 40 well-done controlled burns on Saturday that did everything right,” Stukey said. “We had a couple that rekindled and sometimes that can’t be helped. Sometimes you do the right thing and you go check it and you just don’t see that little spark.”

He also talked about the importance of paying attention to burning advisories even when conditions seem optimal for controlled burns.

“Just because the weather may seem great one day, it does not mean the following days are also good to burn,” Stukey said. “Which is why when we issue burn bans, we take into consideration the weather that day and the next two days.”

To obtain a burn permit, contact the Riley County Emergency Management office at 785-537-6333 or fill out a permit request at rileycountyks.gov.