‘It came so fast and so hot’: Kansas man says wildfire melted wheels but spared his home
A man in Reno County says it was “an act of God” when the Cottonwood Complex fire swept through his property but didn’t touch his home or barn.
Michael Wallsten of Burrton says the wildfire Saturday destroyed two sheds, a pickup truck, a car, a semi truck engine and several other miscellaneous objects on his property.
“It came so fast and so hot that it melted all kinds of metal like aluminum,” Wallsten said.
The fire had melted aluminum wheels, a portion of a gate and a engine. “You can see it just melted to where you can see the valves,” Wallsten said of the bare engine.
His home, barn and several semi-trailer trucks were untouched by the fire.
“It’s amazing how it stopped before it got to the barn or any of the equipment. It’s kind of hard to tell now, but you can see a path of grass yay big around them. You could say it’s the good Lord that did it,” Wallsten said.
Wallsten said he is waiting on his insurance company to come out and assess the damage.
The Cottonwood Complex fire has destroyed an estimated 35 homes, 92 outbuildings and 100 vehicles, according to a news release from the Hutchinson Fire Department on Monday morning.
The Reno County Sheriff’s Office was investigating one death, a body that was found Sunday.
Several state agencies along with the Hutchinson Fire Department were out Monday working to contain the remainder of the fire.