Firefighters are responding to a brush fire in extreme northeastern Riley County.
According to Riley County officials, firefighters were dispatched around 3:30 pm to a prescribed burn that got out of control. As of 6:45 pm a large area was still burning in a mostly rural area of northeast Riley County, near the borders of Marshall and Pottawatomie counties.
The State of Kansas has dispatched the Dickinson County Task Force and the county is receiving mutual aid from Marshall, Nemaha and Pottawatomie counties. An aircraft is also dropping water on the fire, according to county PIO Vivienne Leyva.
About 50 personnel are on site fighting the fire which is moving to the south. It is currently not threatening any residential properties and no evacuations have been announced.
This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.
7:15 pm update
Riley County officials have estimated about 500 to 1,000 acres have burned. The fire is believed to have started in the area of Harmony and Dial Road, northeast of the Swede Creek Recreation Area.
8 pm update
Officials now estimate over 1,000 acres have burned in the Harmony Road fire, but are making progress as they work to contain it.
8:15 pm update
Firefighters are doing back burns and mopping up after winds calmed, allowing significant progress in fighting the blaze. Officials tell KMAN there have been no evacuations, no injuries reported and no livestock lost.
