Third-generation rancher gives up ag; financial effects of Four County Fire may last for years

Tony Chrisler and his wife, Melissa, lost everything in the Four County Fire—their house, their barn, about 90 head of cattle, vehicles.

“I walked away with the shirt on my back,” Tony Chrisler said.

A third-generation farmer, 52-year-old Chrisler gave up ranching, took a job working for Russell County Road and Bridge and moved into town.

The Dec. 15, 2021, fire came upon their property so quickly nothing could be saved, he said. His adult son and wife tried to move cattle when they smelled smoke, but the fire was moving too fast. Heavy smoke killed the motor on the brand-new four-wheeler his son was riding, and he had to abandon it in a ditch and make a run for it.

“It could have been a loss,” he said of his son. “We’re glad everyone is still alive.”

Tony and Melissa still hope to rebuild their home, which was 7 miles south of Natoma on the Ellis and Russell county line, but inflation means the insurance won’t cover the cost of replacing what they had, Chrisler said.

Although the family still has several dozen head of cattle, Chrisler said he doesn’t feel he can give up the security of the county job, which offers health insurance. He said he will likely never be able to go back to farming and ranching full-time.

“Farming is tough anyway,” he said, “and then you take everything away that you built for 30 years. You’ve got to go do something.”

Although some ranchers received aid for fencing and rebuilding destroyed structures, the long-term economic effects of the fire for both families and the communities is likely to be prolonged, said Clinton Laflin, livestock production Extension agent for the Midway Extension District and a Russell County rancher.

As a producer, Laflin said he is still being affected daily by last year’s fire.

“I went through the fire myself, and it doesn’t seem like it’s been a year ago,” he said, “because everything we’ve done in the last year has had some impact from the fire, whether that be feed, moving cattle, record keeping, costs. It’s affected everything we’ve done.”

Dr. Lauren Mack, a Plainville veterinarian, works daily with ranchers who were affected by the fires.

Although ranchers have been able to receive assistance from the government and through private donations, not all costs have been covered, she said.

Fencing costs have been high, and there has been challenges for some to access help through the various recovery programs. Inflation has also made it difficult for ranchers to afford to replace fences, buy feed, rebuild structures, and replace other items destroyed in the fire, she said.

Area ranchers have not been able to re-establish their herds to pre-fire levels, she said.

“A lot of the funding that comes through that is supposed to support them didn’t necessarily cover things the way it needed to, especially with inflation,” she said. “It’s not just the people who lost cattle. A lot of people lost feed, and we haven’t been able to recover that.”

“I know a couple of people have had to get jobs in town and really adjust how their families function,” Mack said.

Stacy Campbell, Kansas State University Extension agriculture and natural resources agent in Hays, said he also is seeing the financial effects of the fire in Ellis County.

“It’s very devastating for some. Even those who are able to stay in business, I would say there will be at least a minimum of a five- if not 10-year economic impact to get back to where they were,” he said.

Losses in the ag sector have far-reaching effects on all the surrounding communities and their economies, Campbell said.

“Any type of disaster like that is going to trickle down into the town. If those guys are affected, they might not be coming to town to buy as many goods or services for their family,” he said.

Praying for rain

Rancher Randy Marintzer had a section—one square mile of pasture—burned in the Four County Fire.

He’s looking at his pasture, which was unable to be grazed this season, and wonders what the future will hold. Despite Hays receiving a half inch of rain this week, the area is still 6 inches below average precipitation for the year.

“If it doesn’t rain or snow, it’s going to look pretty tough,” he said. … “We are just going to have to pray and believe we are going to get some rain.”

The threat of fire is still a concern for many in the Four County area.

Prairie grasses can dry and be ready to burn within an hour of being wet, said Chip Redmond, assistant meteorologist at K-State Weather Data Library and Mesonet manager.

The Four County Fire burned 164,000 acres in Ellis, Russell, Rooks, and Osborne counties. Redmond said many variables go into the fire forecast for this fire season. The season runs from the first frost to the last frost—the time when vegetation is dormant and dry.

The Four County area had several wet years going into last winter. This meant the vegetation was thicker than normal. This year, dry conditions resulted in less growth.

“To the west of Hays, there were areas that never got green this summer,” Redmond said. “We still have all the dormant grass from last year, which I don’t think is a whole lot because it’s been grazed now or mowed to reduce that vegetation amount.

“It doesn’t totally lessen [the fire risk], but it gives us confidence that maybe we won’t have as aggressive fire behavior as we did last year,” he said.

Sting jet

Weather conditions can change rapidly, and Redmond said residents should expect multiple storms in the coming months that will be accompanied by high winds.

The system that caused the 100 mph plus winds on Dec. 15, 2021, was a rare occurrence, called a sting jet, which involves stratospheric air coming to the surface. Redmond said sting jets have only been recorded over land in Kansas a few times.

“The likelihood of a high-impact day like that is very, very low,” he said of the extreme winds.

Although grasses will be less dense because of the drought, trees will show more stress, Redmond said. They will smolder and burn more efficiently and longer. Cedar trees burn quickly, especially in dry conditions, and Redmond encouraged residents to avoid planting them near structures.

Improving fire response

Darin Myers, Ellis County Fire Department chief, said the area that did not burn last year still has plenty of fuel, which is continuing to keep local fire crews on alert.

“There is still a lot of the county left that didn’t burn very thankfully,” Myers said. “When you look at the drought, we still have that fuel that is out there. What didn’t burn is dry. It’s all out there and available to still burn—cropland to regular pastures or CRP.”

After any major fire incident, the Ellis County Fire Department does a review. Myers identified several areas for improvement in fighting future wildfires.

“You think of places you can fix things if you have money, but that is not always the case,” Myers said. “Some things you can’t fix no matter how much money you throw at it.”

The Four County Fire burned a significant portion of the Saline River Valley in northern Ellis and Russell counties. That area is largely unbroken prairie with few county roads. This allowed the fire to spread largely unabated. It also meant getting to the fire was difficult.

In addition, no communication towers were available to firefighters in that area. In the days fire crews were actively fighting the blaze, fire teams were constantly losing contact with each other, Myers said.

“Until they got up on a hill, they won’t have any radio communications,” Myers said.

The county identified three areas for improvement. The Ellis County Commission immediately purchased more portable radios.

The Ellis County Commission recently approved a project to mount emergency communication equipment on an existing Midwest Energy tower in the Saline River Valley. That project will cost about $1 million and is being funded with American Rescue Plan Act funds.

However, Myers said it will still be another six to eight months before that equipment is installed, not in time for the current fire season.

The county also upgraded its computer-aided dispatch system. All fire trucks now have mobile data terminals. A CrewForce app allows fire crews and law enforcement to see where fire units have been deployed, road and bridge closures, and water sources.

Another major fire burned about 14,000 acres of grassland in the southwest portion of Ellis County in October. That fire was also in a river valley, which made reaching the fire difficult. However, the addition of CrewForce helped the crews better direct resources, Myers said.

Area farmers were essential resources in fighting that fire. They hooked up discs and manned graders to build fire breaks along the flanks of the fire, which allowed the fire crew to fight the active front of the fire.

Still no recovery money

Even a year later, Ellis County still doesn’t have a complete picture of the full financial loss as a result of the Four County Fire and is still seeking aid in the recovery.

Myers estimated the Ellis County Fire had several thousand man-hours dedicated to fighting the fire over the three days of the incident.

The incident started as a wind event, but many expenses that were incurred by the fire department were because of fire. Federal Emergency Management Agency funds will cover wind damage, but not fire.

Officials are still working with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, FEMA, Kansas legislators and the Kansas Congressional delegation to find further relief, Myers said.

“Here we are a year later and we still don’t have the answer,” he said.

“I’m hoping that is a once-in-a-career situation, but we’re in the same predicament we were a year ago,” Myers said. “If we have another day like that, it can happen just as quickly. We’re just as dry if not dryer than last year.”