A Kansas wildfire scorched 1,500 acres after city’s burn. The official cause is undetermined.
A fire burned the dry brush and trees in the bed of the empty Arkansas River in Edwards County, which appears here on April 27, 2026. (Photo by Baya Burgess for Kansas Reflector)
KINSLEY — Charred fence posts, oxidized barbed wire and blackened trees lined the Arkansas River in west-central Kansas in the wake of a 1,500 acre fire that scorched the dry riverbed and surrounding property.
Below average rainfall in the region and a bone-dry riverbed filled with dead brush fueled the fire. The Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office deemed the cause “undetermined,” even though the fire sparked one day after a controlled burn was performed on an adjacent ranch owned by the city of Hays.
The fire marshal’s office did not draw a connection between the two fires.
But others didn’t find it difficult to see a link.
Richard Neilson, emergency management director for Edwards County, told Wichita television station KWCH on April 16 the initial fire “should not have been burning.”
He added: “And that’s why we have burn bans.”
Kansas Forest Service meteorologists indicated in a weekly fire forecast that Edwards County had a high fire danger for the week beginning Monday, April 13.
A day before a wildfire charred the Arkansas River and surrounding land on April 16, 2027, in Edwards County, the city of Hays had lit a controlled burn nearby. An area between the river and the city of Hays’ R9 Ranch appears here on April 27, 2026. (Photo by Baya Burgess for Kansas Reflector)
The day before the fire, 10-hour fuel moisture levels, a metric that measures the water content of dead brush that can fuel a wildfire, were at their lowest in weeks near Kinsley, increasing wildfire risk. In other words, it was the driest day of the month, according to fire danger forecast data from Kansas State University.
An advisory warning of unusually dry grass had been in place for all of western Kansas since March. Still, on April 15, a 400-acre controlled burn inched across the native grass on the R9 Ranch near Kinsley.
The land is owned by the city of Hays, which is a little more than an hour drive from Kinsley. Hays bought the land 30 years ago and intends to use its 30 water wells to buttress its municipal water supply, a controversial plan that could set precedent as Kansas’ first intrastate water transfer for municipal purposes.
The local fire chief approved the controlled burn as part of the city’s land maintenance efforts.
“Staff monitored the area throughout the day Wednesday and Thursday to ensure any hot spots were addressed,” said a statement the city of Hays posted to Facebook on April 17.
The controlled burn began around 8:20 a.m. and was finished by 1:30 p.m April 15, according to the fire marshal’s office. By 3:30 p.m., the ranch manager told the local dispatch they were done.
Around 4 p.m. the next day, the Edwards County Fire Department responded to a new fire that had cropped up directly adjacent to the land burned the day before.
It raged through the dry Arkansas riverbed, consuming trees and creeping onto private property. More than 24 agencies, including surrounding fire departments and the U.S. Forest Service, helped fight the fire.
Parts of a back-burn path used to fight an April 16 wildfire in Edwards County already sprouted new growth, as seen here on April 27, 2026. (Photo by Baya Burgess for Kansas Reflector)
Leroy Wetzel, who lives near the R9 Ranch and the river, helped a friend move cattle away from the blaze, herding them with pickup trucks to a standing wheat field. To his knowledge, and per the fire marshal’s office, no livestock was injured in the fire.
Firefighters ignited back-burns, singeing untouched fields to keep the primary from encroaching further on private property.
By the end, a swath of the Arkansas River and more than 1,500 acres were scorched.
“Due to suppression activities, the cause of the fire is undetermined,” said Lance Feyh, a spokesperson for the fire marshal’s office.
As of April 29, the investigation had concluded.
“If more information is learned,” Feyh said, “it can always be investigated further.”
Toby Dougherty, city manager for Hays, said on Tuesday the city hadn’t seen a final report from the state fire marshal, and the city’s investigator, which was retained through its insurance, has not completed a report.
“No comment will be made until we have received and reviewed both reports,” he said.