Firefighters from multiple agencies in Douglas County and the surrounding area fought several grassfires on Friday, March 14, including a more than 200-acre fire east of Stull, near North 1600 and East 400 Roads. That fire was declared under control this morning, Saturday, March 15.

Firefighters encountered near hurricane-force wind gusts during the extremely dangerous fire. An evacuation notice for the area was in place for about two hours beginning at 5:12 p.m. Friday. No structures were lost, and no injuries were reported.

“These conditions and the large fires created challenges for firefighters and first responders, but the teamwork and coordination helped us protect lives and property amid the threat of these fires,” said John Mathis, interim fire chief for Douglas County Consolidated Fire District No. 1.

Most of the land is managed by the Corps of Engineers and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. They will continue to monitor the area where continued smoke and smoldering trees are expected for the next several days.

The Kansas State Fire Marshall has started a preliminary investigation.

On Friday afternoon, Douglas County Emergency Management activated the county’s emergency operations center to coordinate resources and communication among agencies until the evacuation notice was no longer in effect.

Fire agencies involved included Consolidated Fire District No. 1, Willow Springs Township Fire, Kanwaka Township, Eudora Fire & EMS, Baldwin Fire, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical and Palmyra Fire District No. 2. As part of a mutual aid request Northwest Consolidated Fire District in Johnson County, 190th Air Refueling Wing and MTAA from Shawnee County, Olathe Fire Department and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ranger Service all responded.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Public Works, Douglas County Emergency Communications Center and Douglas County GIS also provided assistance.