MEDICINE LODGE — Firefighters making headway in trying to snuff the biggest wildfire in Kansas history may not get much help from the weather in coming days.
Forestry officials in Kansas and Oklahoma say the fires that have scorched 620 square miles in the two states are 45 percent contained. That includes the roughly one-third of the fire in hardest-hit Barber County in south-central Kansas.
But the National Weather Service says shifting, stiffer winds are looming, potentially reigniting hot spots or extending flames beyond the fire line.
Around Barber County, winds on Monday could gust to 15 to 25 mph, then increase to 30 to 45 mph the next day. Any chance of precipitation in that area could come Tuesday night, but that moisture is expected to be very isolated.
