KIOWA, Kan. — Fire crews were working to contain a wildfire burning across at least 75 square miles in rural Oklahoma and Kansas on Wednesday, while strong wind and dry conditions also increased fire threats in neighboring states, authorities said.
The National Weather Service said 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 in western Kansas, where about a dozen homes were evacuated.
No injuries have been reported in either state, and none of the evacuated houses in Kansas’ Comanche County has been damaged, county emergency management coordinator John Lehman said. But he noted that wind speeds were increasing and complicating firefighting efforts.
“With this kind of wind, it’s going to be kind of bad,” he said.