Starbuck fire burned over 1,200 square miles
Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts, left, hugs longtime friend Carol Swayze on her ranch near Bucklin, Kan., that was burned by a wildfire. While Swayze lost many other buildings on the ranch, quick action saved the cattle herd. Roberts was in Kansas on Friday afternoon touring the area ravaged by fire earlier this week. (Bo Rader/The Wichita Eagle via AP)
GATE, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma Forestry Services says four wildfires in northwestern Oklahoma and southwestern Kansas are now 42 percent contained, but a high fire danger continues in the region.
The agency said Monday that the largest fire is the Starbuck fire that began near Gate and has burned more than 1,200 square miles in Oklahoma and Kansas and is blamed for one death in each state. In Oklahoma, the 283 fire near Laverne has burned 108 square miles; the Selman fire near Fort Supply has burned 74 square miles; and the Beaver fire between Beaver and Elmwood has burned just more than 4½ square miles.
A suspected cause of the fires has not been released.
OFS says firefighters continue patrolling the fires, putting out hotspots and working to improve containment of the flames.
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