Hundreds of firefighters from across Nebraska and neighboring states were battling two major wildfires that have burned nearly 800,000 acres in western and central Nebraska, officials said Wednesday.
One of the fires, the Morrill fire, is the largest in the state’s history, officials said. That fire has killed at least one person, Gov. Jim Pillen said.
The fires, which started on Thursday last week, were burning as much of Nebraska was in drought conditions, a spokesman for the firefighting operation said on Wednesday afternoon.
“This is the window where there’s not snow, and we haven’t had the good spring green-up,” David Boyd, the spokesman, said, referring to grass. “There is a lot of dormant fuel ready to burn.”
The Morrill fire, which is burning in a wide area north of the Colorado state line, spans 645,000 acres and was 16 percent contained as of Wednesday morning. That fire killed Rose Mary White, 86, in Arthur County on Thursday, Mr. Pillen said.
“I won’t go into the circumstances,” Mr. Pillen said at a news conference. “Hurts a little bit, but a grandma that was trying to get away.”
Ms. White was a mother of four, a grandmother of six, and a great-grandmother of 12, according to her obituary.
That wildfire started in Morrill County on Thursday afternoon, and extremely high winds pushed the flames 70 miles into Garden, Arthur and Keith Counties, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, which coordinates the mobilization of resources for wildland fires throughout the United States.
The other major wildfire, the Cottonwood fire, spans about 130,000 acres southeast of the Morrill Fire, and was 40 percent contained as of Wednesday morning. There are smaller fires burning, too.
Mr. Boyd was cautiously optimistic about the status of the fires.
“We had a red-flag warning yesterday, and we saw more fire activity,” he said, referring to the highest alert issued by the National Weather Service for conditions that may result in extreme fire behavior. “But they didn’t grow much outside of their parameters. A lot of the burning was the unburned pockets within the perimeter.”
More than 400 firefighters from across Nebraska as well as from neighboring states are working to contain the fires, he said, adding that four National Guard helicopters — two from Nebraska and two from Iowa — were assisting.
Nebraska covers a total land area of approximately 45 million acres, about half of which is rangelands and pasture.
Mr. Pillen declared a state of emergency on Friday and issued a statewide burn ban as the state mobilized the National Guard, specialized fire crews and additional resources.
The burn ban is a temporary restriction against the open burning of brush piles, leaves and debris to minimize wildfire risks.
“We are making progress, but the fight isn’t over,” Mr. Pillen said on Wednesday afternoon.
Just north of Nebraska, near Custer, in southwestern South Dakota, about 350 firefighters and emergency personnel were fighting an 8,000-acre wildfire that was about 27 percent contained as of Wednesday afternoon. With temperatures reaching 70 degrees, wind speeds up to 20 miles per hour and lower relative humidity, there was potential for more intense fire activity, according to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
Adeel Hassan, a New York-based reporter for The Times, covers breaking news and other topics.
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