Police advise residents along I-470 to evacuate due to grass fire near Raytown Road

Kansas City police asked residents near Raytown Road and I-470 to consider evacuating due to a quickly spreading fire in the area.

“Please be alert if you live nearby and avoid the area,” read a tweet from the department.

Residents in the Highview Estates neighborhood should consider evacuating for their safety, said a statement from police spokesperson officer Donna Drake, who wrote that the blaze is believed to have started as a mulch fire that grew rapidly due to high winds and dry conditions.

Drake said her department was first called to the area just after 11 a.m.

"Officers are in the area and knocking on doors to let residents know," Drake said.

A traffic alert from the Kansas City District of the Missouri Department of Transportation indicated that I-470 traffic has been closed between I-49 and Missouri Highway 50.

KC Scout cameras in the area showed long lines of cars being diverted north and south along the route.

Traffic on I-470 resumed around 4:45 p.m., though exits to Raytown Road remained closed.

Photos from the Missouri Highway Patrol indicated that the fire had spread to both sides of the highway and that visibility along the route was poor.

“These … are small samples of the challenges with proper containment during high wind gusts,” read a tweet from the Highway Patrol.

According to a tweet from the Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department, crews from ten different agencies responded to the fires, including, Belton, Overland Park, Raytown and Lee’s Summit.

This is a developing story and could be updated.