ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
The first half of 2026 has seen more than its share of fires across the High Plains, leaving widespread destruction across several parts of the region.
Locally, along with other counties, Meade County has been the victim of some of those fires, including ones in mid-May, and Casie McAtee found out about these most recent fires the way many people get information in today’s world – through social media.
“I was scrolling through Facebook, and the National Weather Service had put out a dry thunderstorm warning, which I thought was kind of silly, but the thunder and lightning in Meade started in the afternoon,” she said. “You could see the cloud to ground lightning, and the smoke came. It was Friday afternoon when I first found out about the fires.”
A short time later, McAtee was running an errand and noticed multiple plumes of smoke in the distance, and concerned about what she was seeing, she called 911 to ask if fire crews had been dispatched.
“There were, but there were multiple fires,” she said.
Despite the situation, McAtee said she was not initially worried due to confidence in fire departments throughout Meade County, including ones in Plains, Meade and Fowler to fight grass fires. However, with the number of fires growing, she said her worry grew as well.
“There were 17 different fires,” she said. “Our crews are too small to fight that many fires over that area. It turned out to be scarier than I initially thought it was going to be.”
McAtee said the damage left by the fires was significant, but thankfully, no one lost their lives. Two homeowners, though, did lose their houses and structures, including a few miles of fence. Livestock too saw some of the damage.
“With some mama cows, their udders got burned,” she said. “They had to be put down. Some calves got orphaned. The financial part of the fire is going to be expensive.”
McAtee currently serves as the board treasurer of the Meade County Community Foundation, and the foundation is looking for donations to help with recovery efforts from the fires.
“We currently have two drives we’re doing,” she said. “One is for the fire departments specifically, and with the other one, we partnered with Ashland Community Foundation.”
Money from the ACF drive, McAtee said, will go to producers and ranchers who lost livestock, hay and fence in the fires.
“All of that, 100 percent, will go back to them,” she said. “We also gave money from the Ashland and Meade County community foundations to the two homeowners who lost their houses to start their rebuilding and immediate needs.”
McAtee said officials with the Ashland foundation approached those with MCCF about partnering on wildfire relief efforts.
“They already had the application in place,” she said. “They asked if we wanted to partner with them. How that got kicked off was the Friday right after the fires began, before the fires were even out, we were in contact with them.”
ACF would receive checks from Stockgrowers State Bank and Meade State Bank for $25,000 to get started Friday, May 15, and by Monday, May 18, checks of $10,000 each were presented to the two homeowners who had lost their homes. McAtee said the decision to help with recovery efforts took little, if any, time.
“It was really quick,” she said. “Why wouldn’t we partner with them and get it going? They already invented it.”
Currently, fire conditions are quiet in Meade County, and McAtee said with recent rains, including last week, the landscape is looking more green.
It looks good,” she said. “It looks better, but you can still see the devastation. The trees are burned. The yuccas are burned. There’s burn scars. There’s tons of fence that’s burned and hanging, but we’re in the process of rebuilding.”
McAtee too said recovery efforts are going well.
“Our fire departments got together and had a debriefing,” she said. “Everybody’s getting back with their feet under them and leaning on the community to help each other.”
McAtee said spirits in Meade County communities are still strong, and residents are eager to help each other through the recovery process.
“Donations have poured in to not only the foundations, but the fire departments – donations of water, Gatorade – to our local linemen, anybody who was out there who was helping fight the fires,” she said. “I have family in Eastern Kansas who sent some donations back after Memorial Day to go to the fire departments. I think the generosity has been absolutely amazing with the outpour of donations from not just Southwest Kansas, but across the state and other surrounding states.”
The willingness to donate, McAtee said, shows a lot about people living in rural communities such as those in Meade County.
“Neighbors don’t wait to be asked,” she said. ”They just show up. People have been bringing hay in, fencing supplies, a bunch of different donations. I think we’re very blessed to live in our small towns and in Southwest Kansas with so many caring community members.”
In the last decade, Meade County has been through much destruction, including tornadoes and fires, and rebuilding efforts give McAtee and others the confidence to recover from the recent fires.
“It won’t happen overnight,” she said. “Farmers and ranchers are some of the most resilient people I know. Every year, they face challenges – whether it’s drought, hail, market swings or wildfire – and they find a way to keep moving forward.”
McAtee said, though, there is still a lot of work ahead.
“Fences need to be rebuilt, grazing land needs time to recover, and some losses can never be fully replaced,” she said. “What gives me confidence is the overwhelming support we’ve seen from neighbors, volunteers, businesses, organizations and complete strangers who have stepped up to help.
McAtee said Meade County communities have always come together during difficult times, and she believes the same strength, determination and generosity that carried them through the fire will carry them through the recovery as well.
“We’ll be fine,” she said. “We’ll rebuild. Everything that was lost can be rebuilt. Nobody lost their life. That’s the most important thing. It’s sad that cattle were burned. There’s still a lot of work ahead, but it will get rebuilt. It’ll just take some time.”
To make donations or for more information, visit www.meadecountycommunityfoundation.org or the Meade County Community Foundation Facebook page. Donations can also be dropped off at Meade State Bank at 203 N. Fowler in Meade and Stockgrowers State Bank at 622 Main Street in Ashland. Checks are payable to the Ashland Community Foundation, and monetary donations for the fire departments can be mailed to P.O. Box 1302, Meade, KS 67864. Be sure to put either “fire relief” or “fire department” for the memo line.
Liberal’s Southwest Medical Center is likewise looking for donations to help with recovery efforts in Meade County and Clark County. Heading up that drive is SWMC Trauma Coordinator Katie Coleman, and she said after looking for help for the Seward County and Liberal fire departments and finding those departments were in good shape, the decision was made to look for donations to Meade County and Ashland.
At this time, Coleman said donations are being collected at SWMC.
“I will see what we get and disperse them to the fire departments, or we’ll save them, and if it happens again, we have those donations collected,” she said. “We can donate those out to whoever needs it.”
Like McAtee, Coleman said drives such as these prove how those in rural communities come together.
“We support each other as much as we can,” Coleman said. “This shows in light of diversity, we can come together in time of need and help those and promote generosity and also bring education and awareness to those areas.”
For more information , contact Coleman at 620-6241651 or 620-629-6441. Monetary donations can be made at 620-629-6441.
Donations will be distributed to fire departments in Southwest Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle.
