Kansas town evacuated because of wildfire; some I-70 lanes reopen

Residents in a small, southwest Kansas town were ordered to evacuate Tuesday afternoon as a large fire from Oklahoma closed in on the town, officials said.

The western half of Kansas is under a red flag warning for fire danger because of the high winds. Officials closed I-70 in both directions between Colby and WaKeeny “due to vehicle crashes blocking the roadway and reduced visibility from blowing dust,” a Kansas Department of Transportation news release said.

All lanes were open by later Tuesday night.

Englewood, a town of around 50 people in Clark County, was ordered to evacuate early in the afternoon because of the fire, according to Kole Johnson, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Dodge City.

He said they got confirmation of the evacuation from state officials around 1 p.m.

The southwest wind is blowing the large fire in the direction of the town. Wind in that area sustained around 30-35 mph with gusts of 45-50 mph.

The winds weren’t expected to subside until late tonight.

The fire was reported around 11 a.m. just northeast of Beaver, Oklahoma. It had already burned 15,000 acres over more than 20 miles, Aaron Ward, a science and operations officer for NWS in Amarillo, said around 1:55 p.m.

He said that number was preliminary and going to grow. He said there were unofficial reports of structures burned along Highway 64, east of Forgan.

“No expectation that (this) fire is going to be stopped any time soon, unfortunately,” he said.

This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 2:33 PM.