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.
Red flag warnings are in effect from noon until 7 PM Tuesday for Barton, Ellsworth, Pratt and Stafford counties, and a fire weather watch is in effect for the same hours across the remainder of central Kansas. A combination of southwest winds gusting to 40 miles an hour and low relative humidity will create a very high to extreme fire danger. Wind gusts will be higher along the US 281 corridor and into Ellsworth County.
Marion County has issued a ban on burning of brush piles through at least the end of this week. Several counties in the area also have policies that restrict issuance of burn permits during extremely dry and windy conditions.
