Jamestown Marsh Fire

For nearly 30 hours, more than 75 firefighters from over 20 departments battled a wildfire in north central Kansas.
According to Concordia Fire Chief Eric Voss, the Jamestown Fire Department first responded to the blaze at 11:57 a.m. Wednesday.
Voss said that the fire started at 10th Road and Highway 148 in Republic County and spread to the south into the Jamestown Wildlife Area.
As of Thursday afternoon, a cause of the fire had not been determined.
Firefighters from Cloud, Republic, Mitchell and Jewell counties responded to the fire and had to deal with winds gusting over 40 miles per hour.
“With the length that we have been dry and the wind and everything, that fuel load is so much higher and it goes so quick and everything is burning so hot,” Voss said.
Along with the strong winds, the firefighters also had to deal with getting equipment into the wildlife area.
“We couldn't get trucks and stuff in there to fight it because even though it has been so dry, the trucks were sinking in,” Voss said.
Voss said that, at one time, Jamestown had three vehicles stuck.
The Kansas Forest Service called in Henen Brothers aerial application specialists from Seneca to make four water drops on the fire Wednesday night.
A strike team from Sedgwick County was called in on Thursday to allow the volunteer firefighters from the area to return to their jobs.
Voss said that one residence and some cattle were evacuated and there were other residences on alert.
The fire was declared extinguished at 4:24 p.m. Thursday. It is estimated it burned around 700 acres.