Wildfire sets unwelcome record in Kansas

As the number of acres consumed by raging wildfires continued to climb on Wednesday, Kansas set an unwanted record.

More than 502,000 acres have burned in Clark and Comanche counties over the past few days, making it the most widespread single fire on record for the state, according to the Kansas Division of Emergency Management.

That compares to the Anderson Creek fire, which burned 312,427 acres in Barber and Comanche counties last year.

Large grass fires have been reported in 23 counties since Saturday, consuming more than 650,000 acres so far. Although most of the fires have been contained, state officials said, fires are still burning in Clark, Comanche, Ellis, Reno and Rooks counties.

This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Wildfire sets unwelcome record in Kansas."