The wildfire response in western and central Nebraska moved deeper into a seventh day as gusty conditions eased but the threat of fast-moving fire remained, especially if flames crossed containment lines, the Associated Press reported. A coalition of state, federal and local officials said Wednesday that the changes in weather offered a window to push back against the blazes, but they also cautioned that conditions could worsen again.
David Boyd, the coalition spokesman, said “What’s different today is the wind will be less — still, with gusts to 30 miles an hour — but we’re starting to dry out and heat up again,” and he warned that continued fire spread was possible if crews lost the line. He said the risk was immediate enough that officials were watching for fire to move rapidly through dry vegetation even as winds moderated.
Gov. Jim Pillen characterized the statewide effort more bluntly from the air as he toured the area. “We are making progress, but the fight isn’t over,” he said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
Authorities said four separate fires had burned around 1,300 square miles total, a larger footprint than the state of Rhode Island. The largest blaze, known as the Morrill County fire, covered parts of five counties and stretched more than 80 miles from around Bridgeport in the Nebraska Panhandle east to Lake Ogallala. Officials said the Morrill County fire had burned about 1,005 square miles, making it the largest wildfire in Nebraska history.
The Morrill County fire had lingered in uncontained status for days, after strong winds gusting over 60 miles an hour starting last week helped the flames surge across rolling hills. The growth was fueled by tinder-dry prairie grass and stands of red cedar, and officials said the fires remained uncontained until Tuesday, when the winds slowed and some rain and snow allowed crews to gain ground on the flames. Even with that shift, the Morrill County fire was only 16% contained by midday Wednesday.
The second-largest blaze, the Cottonwood fire, burned more than 205 square miles and started about 10 miles southeast of North Platte, according to Boyd. He said it was about 40% contained by Wednesday. Two other fires were farther north and smaller in scale, with officials reporting they had burned about 56 square miles and 27 square miles respectively and were mostly contained by Wednesday.
Pillen said an 86-year-old woman from rural Arthur died at her home Thursday while trying to escape the fire, and he described dozens of structures as having burned. He said at least one residential area near Jeffrey Reservoir, in the vicinity of the Cottonwood fire, had been evacuated since the previous weekend.
Boyd said crews faced additional complexity in areas where red cedar kept fire behavior more difficult to manage. He said the area was “forested with red cedar, and so that holds fire more,” and he added that officials placed hand crews there “cutting fire line in with chainsaws” close to the edge of what was burning.
Officials also raised longer-term concerns about the impact on cattle ranchers. Sherry Vinton, director of the Nebraska Agriculture Department, said during a news conference Saturday that the Morrill County fire area alone provides grazing for more than 35,000 head of cattle, and agriculture experts said it can take several growing seasons for burned land to recover before it is ready for grazing again.
Response crews reported using tactics such as cutting trenches around the wildfires and extinguishing remaining burning areas inside the containment lines. Officials said they hoped to make additional progress over Thursday and Friday as winds were lighter, but they also warned that Saturday was expected to bring fire-prone conditions again, including stronger winds and potentially record heat around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius).
The Nebraska wildfires are unfolding during a chaotic weather week across the United States that included scorching heat in California and storms that rolled through the East Coast. The weather disruptions forced airlines to cancel roughly 4,000 flights nationwide on Monday, authorities said as part of the broader context around changing conditions.