Kansas firefighters head west to battle raging wildfires

In this image provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, smoke rises from a wildfire on Monday, July 22, 2024, near Durkee, Ore. In eastern Oregon, evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for the city of Huntington, population 500, after a severe thunderstorm late Wednesday brought some rain and cooler temperatures to the nearly 630 square miles (1,630 square kilometers) burned by the Durkee Fire, the nation's biggest, and another nearby blaze. (Brett Brown/USDA Forest Service via AP)(Brett Brown | AP)

By Kara Nixon

Published: Jul. 26, 2024 at 1:18 PM CDT

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Firefighters from across Kansas are heading west to help battle wildfires in Oregon and Idaho.

On Thursday, the Kansas Forest Service said a team of 10 firefighters from different parts of the state, including Wichita, Olathe, Ottawa, and Edwardsville, are on their way to assist the Oregon Department of Forestry with 34 large fires, almost all of them in the central or eastern part of the state.

Hutchinson Fire Department also sent crews to Eastern Oregon, where they will spend the next two weeks battling the Durkee Fire. HFD said their captain, Troy Mueller, is heading to Idaho to fight the Gwen fire.

According to the Associated Press, nearly 1,562 square miles have burned so far this summer in the Pacific Northwest.