Only in Kansas...*long update in o/p*

...do you have a blizzard warning in the north and a large wildfire in the south.

If you don't mind, could you spare a prayer or two for crews fighting fire over 2 counties in KS & 1 in OK? It's been going since yesterday afternoon and now covers 18 miles. 17,000 acres have burned. Evacuations have taken place and state of emergency has been declared (county-wide).

I know that compared to the mountainous regions where significant wildfires regularly occur this probably doesn't seem like a big deal, and I get that & want to be respectful of it; this is just a little scary for our area. On the prairies there's nothing to stop or slow it down so it can really hop along quickly. 

I'm one county over, and last night had a county-wide all-call for any fire crews that could be spared to go and help (we have 3 depts. in the county, all volunteer).  One dept sent over 3 trucks, mine sent a crew, but they are hesitant to send any more due to the significant fire danger here.

Scary stuff.

Thank you!

******UPDATE AS OF THURSDAY MORNING******

Yesterday was a long day! And it's so personal to us, close to home. Everyone in the community is trying to help as much as we can.

The big main fire continued to run uncontained all day, and several other smaller fires sprung up around the area. The largest one of those is in my home county, my BIL has been out fighting it since last evening. As of this morning one side was contained, the other side uncontained.

As for the one down here - estimated 625 square miles - 400,000 acres burned. Fire line is estimated at 30-40 miles long. These are estimations because the only way to know for sure is from the air, and winds have been too strong for flight. There was a strongly encouraged voluntary evacuation of Medicine Lodge yesterday afternoon, and their hospital brought all of their patients here. Thanks to a subtle wind shift last night, the fire veered south of town and they are saying it "should" be out of danger, unless the winds change again (not forecast but entirely possible). There are a couple of smaller towns still in the path, along with a whole lot of fresh fuel. As of the 11:00 briefing, fire is still considered to be uncontained. Winds yesterday were 30-40mph sustained with gusts into the 50s & 60s.

I spent the first part of my day yesterday at a fire in our county. It kept flaring back up throughout the afternoon, but was kept to one mile section. We were lucky! It was nasty out there though, I was literally having trouble staying on my feet. Washed the heck out of my hair but it still reeks of smoke and is full of dirt & ash. My eyes are still burning, too. I can't even imagine how the guys are doing this right there in the middle of it.

Spent the second half of my day helping coordinate a donation drive to send over to the guys in Barber co. We made around 400 sandwiches and sent 3 carloads of sandwiches, chips, cookies, drinks, etc, plus chapstick & socks by request of the guys. It was really amazing how people just kept showing up with food. We ended up with way more than we had planned for/imagined. I actually have a list of people chomping at the bit to help/donate today as well.

The losses are really tough. Cattle lost everywhere, one rancher lost 24,000 head, his entire herd. Lots of people out helping move cattle (including my kid & a group of guys from his college). At least 2 homes lost, which is remarkable considering the burn area. One of those families came here and were put up in the local motel. Red Cross was here at the HS for a few hours preparing to set it up as a shelter if needed, but that was put on hold when the wind changed. Still on hold at this time.

So...lots of prayers for the wind to just completely bottom out. Right now it's down to more typical high fire danger levels.