State agencies, firefighters and emergency managers are preparing communities for a potential earlier start to the wildfire season in Kansas.
Projections by the Kansas Mesonet and National Weather Service have elevated the threat of wildfire in southwest and central Kansas in 2019. According to Kansas Forest Service that news came during the 2019 Wildfire Outlook Seminar held in Wichita Dec. 12. Chip Redmond, mesonet manager and assistant scientist in the Weather Data Library at Kansas State University attributes the elevated threat to increased fuel loads in the region due to late summer rains.
Redmond says despite above-normal moisture across most of the state this winter, a slightly earlier start to the spring fire season is expected accompanied by an earlier-than-usual spring green up that could add fuel if freeze damage occurs.
While there was a decrease in acres burned and total number of fires in 2018, the fires of 2016 and 2017 burned over 800,000 acres with a cost of more than $80 million. The Extension office says aggressive initial attack, improved coordination and access to mutual aid kept the impact of 2018 wildfires to a minimum.
