Now that the wildfires in south-central Kansas have largely been brought under control, the search is on for missing cattle. The animals scattered in all directions when grass fires burned down hundreds of miles of fencing.
Gaten Wood, Barber County attorney and spokesman for emergency operations in Medicine Lodge, says they have not yet calculated the total number of livestock lost to the fire, but that reports say as many as 150 cattle have been lost.
"We have cowboys in the area that are out on horseback looking for calves or cows that are unaccounted for, and it's pretty treacherous terrain out there," Wood says. "Our local cowboys know the area, but we aren't turning away help."
Wood says so far, the cost of fighting the wildfire just in Barber County has reached $1 million. Comanche, Harvey and Reno Counties were also affected by the wildfires.