By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Eight fire departments were dispatched to battle a sweeping grass fire Tuesday that burned 960 acres north of K-150 and six miles east of Marion.

Marion fire chief Preston Williams said departments spent four hour battling the blaze in gusts of up to 40 miles an hour.

“It was outrageous,” Williams said. “We were having a hard time catching the head fire.”

As the fire gained strength, it consumed an area of grassland that stretched 2 ½ miles from north to south and ½ a mile east to west.

The dry conditions, temperatures in the upper 50s, and strong winds Tuesday led the National Weather service to issue a warning about the fire danger for the county.

A wind advisory still is expected today, but temperatures will plummet below freezing tonight as a front moves in, said Eric Metzger, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Wichita.

Marion fire trucks were first at the scene.

Firefighters from Florence, Lincolnville, Lost Springs, Elmdale, Goessel, Hillsboro, and Strong City came to help.