By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com
MOUND CITY – Every fire department in Linn County was called out on Friday as crews battled brush fires stoked by sustained straight-line southerly winds clocking in excess of 60 mph. In addition to Linn County firefighters, companies from Missouri and Anderson County were called in to help, said Linn County Fire Chief Randy Hegwald on Saturday.
The fire poised to do the most damage was one south of the U.S. Highway 69 and Kansas Highway 152 interchange east of La Cygne, he said. Hegwald added that the fire kept jumping back and forth on both sides of Highway 69. Firefighters worked to divert the fire line away from the gun shop and cabins located on the northeast corner of that intersection.
Some of the fires were caused by arcing electrical lines and others were fires that had been contained the day before but rekindled as the winds picked up. He said none of the fires the crews fought had been started after the burn ban was put into effect.
The wind was part of a massive storm system that swept through the center section of the country on Friday. While the wind fanned wildfires across Oklahoma and eastern Kansas, it also caused dust storms.
In a stretch of Interstate 70 Highway between Goodland and Colby, eight people died in a highway pileup on Friday afternoon that involved more than 70 vehicles according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The highway there remained closed on Saturday evening as officials continued to clear the road.
There were reports of power outages in La Cygne, Pleasanton and Mound City, however, as the sun went down on Friday, both Evergy and Heartland Rural Electrical Cooperative showed just a few outages in the Linn County region.
One of the most spectacular wind-related events was in Mound City where the metal roof of a shop building south of Main Street lifted into the air and came down on a building housing two businesses.
Josiah Shoemaker is the owner of 12 Step Farms and the east half of the painted masonry building on the south side of Main Street just east of the Sixth Street intersection.
As the winds howled through the city, the shop’s roof landed on his building.
Incredibly, Shoemaker said his side of the building received only minor damage. The other side of the building had some holes punched in its roof, he said.
Shoemaker said he purchased the building about six months prior to the storm. He has been growing vegetable plants under lights with a plan to begin selling them in a few weeks. He said the growing area had no damage.
However, he said he was grateful for the community’s help in getting the roof off of the building and cleaning up the area on Saturday.
“It looks like it didn’t even happen,” he said.
Mound City public works Superintendent John Bruns brought in the city’s mini-excavator to lift the roof off, and Travis Needham, Alex Lowe, Landon Higgins, Landon Schneider several firefighters helped with removal and clean-up, Shoemaker said, adding that he was very grateful of the help.
The burn ban invoked by Hegwald remained in place on Saturday, however, he said it could be cancelled on Sunday if the weather remained calm. He said it likely would be reinstated on Monday as continued dry conditions and windy weather was once again expected.
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