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A massive blaze known as the Ranger Road Fire has scorched nearly 300,000 acres across the landscape.
By 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oklahoma Forestry Services reported that the fire, which originated in Beaver County, Oklahoma, and spread into Kansas, had consumed 283,283 acres. It is currently only 20% contained.
In the rural plains of southwest Kansas, vast herds of cattle continue to graze, seemingly undeterred by the unfolding disaster.
Greg Gardiner, who manages a large number of cattle between Ashland and Englewood, has already lost approximately 300 head. Although these losses are smaller than those he faced during the 2017 Starbuck Fire, the impact remains deeply troubling.
Across the plains of rural southwest Kansas, thousands of head of cattle graze.
Greg Gardiner tends thousands of cattle between Ashland and Englewood. So far, he’s lost around 300 head. It’s only a fraction of the losses he suffered in 2017’s Starbuck Fire, but it’s still devastating.
They utilized lessons learned to mobilize quickly, knocking the number down from the 1,400 he lost in 2017. Gardiner said he was finally made whole from that loss just last week.
“It’s a three-year cycle of producing an animal to get it to the public’s table,” he said. “I was just thinking last week that the Starbuck Fire of March 6, 2017, is embedded in our history and our memory.”
He said the best way to help is either through direct cash donations, fence supplies or feed.