Pray for, help fire victims

Kansas and weather are old adversaries. Nature frequently demonstrates its power, to which residents respond with courage and resilience.

But the wind-driven wildfires in our parched state have been scary in their scale and complexity, scorching hundreds of thousands of acres in Barber and Comanche counties alone. Locals say they’ve never seen anything like this prolonged threat to property, livelihood and life. Smaller blazes also have charred parts of Reno and Harvey counties.

Prayers and hopes are with the property owners who’ve lost homes or other structures, livestock and feed. Fellow Kansans should help as they can, including by answering the calls for hay and monetary donations.

Gratitude is due the hundreds of firefighters, many of them the volunteers in rural fire districts, who’ve bravely battled the flames and smoke to the point of exhaustion.

It was good news that Kansas will receive a federal grant to help pay for the costs of fighting the fires. As Gov. Sam Brownback said, Kansans can help by watching for and reporting any flare-ups, and by taking care not to start new fires through smoking or outdoor burning.

The state and especially its ranchers will be dealing with the consequences long after the last embers are cold.

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Pray for, help fire victims."