STERLING – Northeastern Colorado ranchers say a wind-driven grass fire has killed scores of cattle.
Kyle McConnell told KCNC-TV on Tuesday that he lost 185 head of cattle in the fire, which also destroyed five homes.
The Colorado Cattlemen’s Association says other ranchers lost livestock but no numbers were immediately available.
The association appealed for donations of hay, feed and fencing supplies and help with trucking.
The group says the fire has also destroyed agricultural equipment.
The fire, which started Monday, was burning on more than 45 square miles and is 50 percent contained.
The fire is being fueled by gusty winds in northeastern Colorado.
The Logan County Office of Emergency Management said Tuesday that 15 outbuildings have also burned but that the full extent of damage to livestock in Logan and neighboring Phillips County isn’t known yet.
Firefighters from over a dozen departments from the region as well as from the Denver area are fighting the fire.
No serious injuries have been reported.
Early Monday aircraft could not fight the fire because of strong winds. However, a spokeswoman for the emergency office, Marilee Johnson, says farmers have been helping to fight the fire by using their equipment to dig ditches and turning on irrigation systems.
Three schools were evacuated because of the fire on Monday but no one took advantage of a Red Cross shelter set up for potential evacuees.
An unknown number of residents have been warned to be ready to evacuate if the fire spreads toward them. The warnings were sent to 900 telephone numbers.
The wildfire is one of several burning across the country’s midsection – including in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma.
