Geary County rural firefighters responded to the Moyer Ranch area about 10 miles southeast of Junction City on Monday for a large grass fire after receiving a report of an all-terrain vehicle that had caught on fire. There were no injuries.
Garry Berges, Rural Fire Chief, estimated approximately 1,500 acres burned. The fire is was contained by mid-afternoon. "J6 Company that owns the property out there will be monitoring it throughout the rest of the day and probably into the night just to make sure, but cooperation by all the different departments, especially the Blackhawk helped us get a good stop on the fire."
A National Guard Blackhawk helicopter was brought in and used a Bambi Bucket to get water from a nearby farm pond, and then dropped it on the fire to help keep it contained. Berges estimated 15 buckets of water were dumped on the fire.
Assistance was provided by the Riley County Rural Fire Department with six trucks and a supervisor vehicle, and Grandview Plaza helped with water supply. Geary County sent eight trucks and two supervisor vehicles to the scene and brought additional volunteer firefighters.
