Grass fire shuts down K-96 in northeast Wichita

A discarded cigarette is being blamed for a grass fire that shut down a portion of K-96 in northeast Wichita for nearly half an hour Saturday night.

The fire was reported shortly before 7 p.m. at K-96 near the Hillside exit, Wichita Fire Battalion Chief Matt Bowen said. Someone had tossed a cigarette into thick grass while driving west, he said.

The initial fire ignited about a quarter-mile west of Hillside next to K-96, Bowen said. The fire spread to thick grass next to a nearby lake.

Five Sedgwick County Fire Department trucks and about a dozen Wichita fire trucks responded to the scene, Bowen said, because officials were concerned the fire could jump the freeway or spread along a railroad right-of-way south toward a housing development.

The Kansas Highway Patrol closed eastbound K-96 for about 20 minutes due to the smoke from the fires.

The fire was extinguished about a half-hour after it began, Bowen said. No homes or businesses were threatened.

This story was originally published January 7, 2017 at 9:21 PM with the headline "Grass fire shuts down K-96 in northeast Wichita."