OCONTO, Neb.— Near the beginning of the 2 PM hour, first responders were dispatched to reports of a grass fire north of the community of Oconto on West Pressey Road near Pressey Park.
Mutual aid was quickly called for as Broken Bow, Arnold, Anselmo, Merna, Ansley, Eddyville, and Mason City fire departments joined Oconto and Callaway in the fight not long after the initial call. Before 2:30 PM, special attention for ‘structure protection’ was relayed to responders.
As 3 PM approached, it was stated that the fire had jumped a river in the area as it was pushed forward by winds. The fire had already traveled several miles by 3 PM.
Later in the 3 PM hour, Cozad and Lexington were also requested to the site of the blaze. Agricultural aircraft was also seen flying over Broken Bow in the direction of the source of visible smoke ahead of the 4 PM hour.
The entire KCNI/KBBN listening area and much beyond is in an active Red Flag Warning, indicating that critical fire weather conditions are present due to strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures. At the KCNI/KBBN studios Wednesday, winds are consistently in the 30 to 40 MPH range (gusting higher at times), humidity is crawling lower into the afternoon hours of the day under 30%, and temperatures have risen into the 80s.
We will update this story as more information is available.
