Grass fires cause evacuations in North Shawnee County

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Grass fires in North Shawnee County forced some people to evacuate their homes Sunday.

According to a release from Sheriff Tim Morse with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, at 1 p.m., Deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, as well Kansas Wildlife and Park Officers, assisted the Shawnee County Sherriff’s office in evacuating people from their homes near Shawnee County State Lake.

27 News spoke with the Silver Lake Fire Chief, Joe Hawkins, who was on the scene. He says the fire got out of hand quickly.

“This is the biggest one I’ve seen so far this year,” he said, “and it’s probably one of the bigger ones of my career.”

He says the fire marshal began investigating immediately and believes the fire started on 78th Street. Hawkins says high winds caused the fire to spread rapidly.

“Near as we can tell right now, it burnt about two miles east of Humphrey, all the way over Landon Road,” he said. “We’ve had multiple fire departments out here assisting with this.”

Officials do not believe the fire was started intentionally. While the cause is under investigation, according to Hawkins, the fire marshal believes the exhaust of a diesel truck may be the culprit.

Accidental, or not, Hawkins says it’s a good reminder to make fire safety a priority this time of year.

“We try to frown on burning brush because of how long it takes, ” he said. “This is springtime. You get the windy conditions, and dry… it doesn’t take much to get going.”

He says although there were some vehicles damaged by the fire, fortunately, there were no injuries.

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