Several fires sparked in Nebraska in the later part of last week during dangerous fire weather conditions that were forecast some days before. While several fires in the state ended up being of smaller size, four fires have burned a larger amount of acres than the others and have drawn the largest multi-state and agency response.
For all updates through NOON on Monday, March 16 for the Road 203 fire and the Cottonwood fire, read here: Wildfires spark across Nebraska fueled by strong winds, low humidity. All other updates, as they have slowed to one or two updates per day, will be in separate stories as the latest postings on the SandhillsExpress.com news page
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The Road 203 fire began Thursday afternoon (March 12) near Forest Service Road 203 at the Nebraska National Forest after the Chokecherry Prescribed Burn, which was in monitoring status since concluding on Tuesday (March 10) had fire activity spread outside its project area.
In its early life, the Road 203 fire caused a short period of evacuation for the residents of the Dunning community before winds shifted the fire away. By 6:30 PM Thursday, the Road 203 fire had burned more than 5,000 acres.
By the end of Friday, the fire was confirmed to be at nearly 37,000 acres as it began being managed by federal authorities.
Containment remained at 0% between Saturday and Sunday. Cooler temperatures and some precipitation through snow helped firefighters, but winds made the situation increasingly difficult.
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The Cottonwood Fire began Thursday afternoon (March 12) as well, in the southeast corner of Lincoln County. As the fire traveled southeast, evacuations were ordered several times for areas like Jeffrey Lake, an area south of Gothenburg, and the community of Farnam. By Thursday night, the fire had burned a path approximately 30 miles in length.
Residents of far southwest Dawson County were advised to stay in a safe location and not return home yet on Friday morning. The residents of Jeffrey Lake were evacuated Friday afternoon just ahead of a statewide burn ban from Governor Jim Pillen (active through March 27).
By Saturday afternoon (March 14), the Cottonwood Fire was estimated at 100,000 acres and at 6 PM the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team assumed command of the fire.
By the time Sunday evening arrived, the National Interagency Fire Center estimated the fire at just over 122,000 acres burned with 0% containment.
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The Anderson Bridge Fire south of Kilgore also started Thursday afternoon (March 12). By 9 PM that same day, NIFC placed the fire at 2,000 acres. The next afternoon, Samuel R. McKelvie National forest was closed to visitors for the safety of the public and emergency responders.
By Friday afternoon (March 13), the fire was estimated at 6,000 acres.
On Saturday, the NIFC perimeter for the fire held over 16,000 acres inside. The fire is also reported to have taken a home, livestock, and hay.
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The largest fire among those across the state, the Morrill Fire, is also now the largest wildfire to ever burn in Nebraska. Since its start on March 12, the blaze has affected ground in Morrill, Keith, Arthur, Grant, and Garden Counties.
Governor Jim Pillen confirmed on Saturday that the fire started by Angora when a power pole and line blew over and sparked a fire. He also confirmed that one Nebraskan lost their life, Rose White of Arthur County, who was unable to escape the blaze.
Several evacuations have been ordered for those in the area of the fire, which by Sunday night had burned over 572,000 acres according to the NIFC.
