Sparks from swinging, arcing power lines caused by the wind are believed to be the cause of a 100-acre fire in the 4000 block of East Magnolia Road Wednesday afternoon.
Saline County Sheriff's Captain Jim Hughes said Thursday that the fire was first reported at 1:53 p.m. Wednesday southeast of the East Magnolia Road-South Simpson Road intersection, near an Eagle Communications tower and an Ottawa County Rural Water District No. 2 water tower. Hughes said it appeared that swinging, arcing power lines near the tower may have sparked, setting off the fire.
The fire burned grass and fence posts, but no structures were damaged and no lives were lost, Hughes said.
Because of the wind, the fire jumped East Magnolia Road and burned up to a half-mile to three-quarters of a mile north of East Magnolia Road, Hughes said. According to the National Weather Service (NWS) in Wichita, the wind was out of the south at 22-24 mph with gusts up to 40 mph during the fire.
At one point, the fire was large enough that it showed up on NWS radar.
The fire took crews from multiple agencies nearly five hours to extinguish, Hughes said. Saline County Rural Fire District No. 5 declared the fire out at 6:41 p.m., he added.
Firefighters from all six rural fire districts in Saline County, the Salina Fire Department, McPherson Rural Fire District No. 6, and Ottawa County Rural Fire Districts No. 2 and No. 4 fought the blaze, Hughes said. Additional units from other agencies were standing by in case they were needed.
Hughes said Saline County officials were thankful for all the firefighters who responded to the blaze. He said the response was a great example of mutual aid and noted that the fire couldn't have been knocked down as quickly as it was without the assistance of so many firefighters and their equipment.