Governor Laura Kelly has issued a verbal state of disaster declaration due to an extended period of dangerous fire weather over the next few days. This declaration makes available state resources to provide assistance.
The State Emergency Operations Center is being staffed starting Tuesday by the Kansas Division of Emergency Management along with personnel from the Office of the State Fire Marshal, Kansas Forest Service and other state agencies to coordinate efforts and pre-staging resources to support local counties and responders if requested.
A fire weather watch has been issued for Coffey and Woodson counties from noon to 7 PM Tuesday for a combination of southwest winds gusting to 45 miles an hour and relative humidity as of as 25 percent. Winds will not be quite as strong and humidity will be higher for areas along and east of US 169, however there is still a danger any fires that develop will spread rapidly and become difficult to control.
Local burn bans have been issued for Anderson, Coffey, Linn and Woodson counties. The bans for Anderson and Linn counties will run through at least Thursday, with the Woodson County burn ban through Tuesday and Coffey County’s ban is until further notice.
