Smell smoke, Kansas City? It may be from wildfires in central Kansas
Kansas City smells like smoke. But meteorologists say the scent is probably coming from large grass fires happening many miles to the west in central Kansas.
The National Weather Service said on Twitter Wednesday night that the smell was settling around the metropolitan area as large wildfires continued to burn west of Topeka. A heatmap shared by the agency showed a large hotspot in the area captured by satellite technology.
The smoke is believed to have been driven west by a system of strong storms and high winds that blew through the area throughout Wednesday.
The smell was strong enough to cause alarm among some area residents. The Overland Park Fire Department reported a heightened number of calls to its phone lines from those concerned about the possibility of a nearby fire. Jason Rhodes, a department spokesman, said in a statement that no fires were found.
There was at least one reported grass fire in the metro area Wednesday. A grassy area along I-435 caught fire in Kansas City, Kansas around 5:45 p.m., Battalion Chief Scott Schaunaman told The Star.
As a flurry of rain swept through the area, fire crews were able to extinguish the local grass fire quickly with help from Mother Nature, Schaunaman said.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 8:46 PM.
