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Two lines of fire, set on each side of a pasture east of Strong City, begin coming together in mid-field, leaving blackened grass behind during a prairie burning last week. The fire was carried across the property of Kim Crofoot and Todd Peterson with the help of a strong southern wind.

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A hot fire that moved across the pasture in front of the home of Kim Crofoot is contained by a county road east of Strong City. Before the pasture was set, a “back fire” was burned around the buildings on Crofoots property for protection. The continuing four-year drought has left little to burn this year.

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Before beginning last week’s pasture burnings, these Chase County Volunteer firemen filled a pipe called a “fire stick” with kerosene. After being tied on the back of a four-wheeled vehicle, the fire stick leaks fuel, which is ignited to leave a trail of fire. It makes it easier to get the burns started in a straight line. From left, the firemen are: Tim and Todd Peterson and Frank Morgan.

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Smoke is still rising from the burning grass as Frank Morgan drives his water truck up a hll on the U.S. Highway 50 access south of Strong City. The cloud of smoke at the right is coming from a burning pasture on the ranch of Joe Mushrush.

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Two fire trucks from the Chase County Volunteer Fire Department roll across the open prairie east of Strong City last week during a burning of the tallgrass prairie. The man on the front of the truck sprays water on the edge of the slow-moving fire to contain the burn.

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Chase County Extension Agent Mike Holder checks out a pasture that was burning very slowly east of Strong City last week. Four years of dry weather has made the annual pasture burning in the Flint Hills difficult due to the short grass.

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An abundance of green grass under last year’s dried tallgrass prairie made this burning pasture on the Joe Mushrush Ranch near Strong City appear to be covered with ground fog. Todd Peterson, foreground, is dragging a “fire stick” behind a four-wheeler dripping kerosene to spread the fire along U.S. Highway 50. The burning season is nearly over in the Fllint Hills. Smoke from last year’s Flint Hills burning, done in three days, triggered air-quality monitors in Kansas City, Mo.

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In many parts of the Flint Hills, last year’s grasses are not much taller than an unkept city lawn. Without a strong wind to move the fire, it makes it difficult to burn. The Flint Hills are in the fourth year of a drought that has kept the grass on the pastures shorter than usual.

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Oblivious to most passing motorists on U.S. Highway 50, Todd Peterson drags a "fire stick" dripping kerosene that starts the pasture burning. Chase County volunteer firemen burned a strip over a mile long beside the highway. A southern wind kept the smoke away from the road.

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A fire truck is nearly lost in the smoke during a pasture burning east of Strong City last week.

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A water truck makes its way up a steep hill into the sun along U.S. Highway 50, driving through still-smouldering grass. Firemen waited to burn until a strong southerly wind that blew the smoke away from the highway came up.

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After 8 p.m. the sky is darkened by the heavy smoke coming from a burning field east of Strong City.

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A strong southerly wind pushed a prairie fire across a Flint Hills pasture last week near Strong City.

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A lone tree stands on the horizon in the Flint Hills of Chase County in an area that had been previously burned. It's symbolic of why ranchers burn their pastures ... to keep trees and shrubs at a minimum.

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Burning continues after sunset, and the firemen have no problems finding the edge of the fire. They spray water along the edge of this slow-moving fire that was set last week.

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Fire and smoke follow the four-wheeler driven by Todd Peterson during a pasture burn in the Flint Hills east of Strong City last week.

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The grass burned slowly last week during a prairie pasture burn in Chase County east of Strong City. Todd Peterson drives his four-wheeler back through a fire he set earlier to check on its progress.