Several counties across Kansas experienced wildfires Tuesday morning through the afternoon.
The National Weather Service forecast critical to catastrophic risk for fires with high winds, high wind gusts and low relative humidity.
Most fires began around 10 a.m., dying down with the winds around 6 p.m. Twenty-one fires have been extinguished over the course of two days, 10 are in final cleanup and 16 are contained. An estimated 25,000 acres have burned to date. Many highways in Northwest Kansas were closed for a short time this afternoon due to blowing dirt. All highways are open at this time.
Firefighters from Tipton, Glen Elder, Downs and Osborne spent a good share of the day yesterday fighting a large grass fire south of Tipton. The fire was contained by late afternoon. We will bring you more details and the extent of the fire as information is made available.