KANSAS CITY - A large fire at Evergreen Pallet/Recycle was likely started by a lightning strike Wednesday night according to the Sedgwick County fire marshal, saying it could take until Friday morning before firefighters put it out completely.
The fire is near 53rd Street North & Broadway in Park City.
Fire Marshal Brad Crisp said at about 10:45 p.m., a neighbor heard a loud boom consistent with a lightning strike and went to investigate. The neighbor found a large pile of construction debris and tree waste burning at Evergreen.
When Wichita and Sedgwick County firefighters arrived, they found a large pile, about 100-by-100 feet, burning.
Crisp said the rain helped keep embers from spreading to other piles as firefighters set up a perimeter, with more than four dozen firefighters working to keep the fire contained overnight.
As of Thursday morning, the fire was contained but not out; the fire department has kept 20 firefighters at the scene, putting water on the fire until it's out.
“We’re getting constant weather updates from the emergency management division, because we know later today there will be a red flag warning because humidity is going to dip really low and the winds are going to kick up really high,” Crisp said. “We’ll be working to keep those things contained and to keep everything safe.”
This is the third fire to burn at the site in the last two-and-a-half years. The last was a pallet fire lasting for several days last June; a fire also broke out in October 2022 at that location, burning for a week.
Crisp said the fire department has worked with Evergreen management and employees to lessen the fire risk.
“Evergreen has done a lot of work out here since last year, as far as moving piles, getting separation in between piles, getting fire department access, which is a big part of why we had such a good time last night keeping it contained,” he said.
He's concerned about how much water the department is using with the area is already in a drought.
“I mean we’re going to flow tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, and at a time like this, when water’s a precious resource and Cheney Lake is still low, that concerns us,” Crisp said.
The City of Park City has a meter on the hydrants the fire department is using. Crisp said the meter is measuring how much water is used, and the city will send Evergreen a bill for the water.
The fire marshal has already seen a video showing the lightning strike, but he'll also get a lightning report to confirm the cause of the fire.
“If this fire was caused by a lightning strike, that’s an act of Mother Nature and there’s really not a lot they can do about it,” Crisp said. “I mean, they have material out here and they’re processing it and doing everything we asked them to do. They had a lightning strike, so it does happen.”