TOPEKA – Gov. Sam Brownback declared a state of disaster emergency Sunday in Ellsworth and Saline counties because of an out-of-control wildfire. That wildfire fire had burned several thousand acres and was threatening communities of Bavaria and Brookville Sunday night. Campers were evacuated from Kanopolis Lake. The Kansas Highway Patrol searched by air to look four hikers who were later found safe late Sunday night. The Kansas Division of Emergency Management also reported massive wildfires along the Rice/Reno county line in central Kansas and in Greeley and Wallace counties in western Kansas. Two firefighters were injured and two mobile homes and a large dairy hay barn were destroyed in the western Kansas fire.
Monday, April 11, 4 p.m.
