JOHNSTOWN, Neb.—A wildfire burning in a rugged, wooded area of Nebraska grew to more than 6,600 acres but by Thursday hundreds of firefighters managed to contain about 40% of the blaze.
The Plum Creek Fire started Monday afternoon from a controlled burn that got out of hand, said Jessica Pozehl, deputy emergency manager for Brown and Rock counties.
The fire, which has burned 6,631 acres (2,683 hectares), is mainly in steep, rugged canyon ground and also some grassy areas, she said. Johnstown, population 60 people, is the closest town to the fire in the Sandhills in the north-central part of the state. Some structures might be endangered, but no one’s residence was in danger as of Thursday morning, Pozehl said.
More than 50 fire departments, joined by National Guard members, were fighting the blaze at its height, as many as 200 to 250 people, she said.
In recent days, responders used two planes to drop fire retardant, and two National Guard Black Hawk helicopters were dropping water on Wednesday and Thursday, Pozehl said.
The fire has killed 45 cattle and destroyed a cabin, according to Gov. Jim Pillen ’s office. The governor issued a statewide burn ban and authorized the Nebraska National Guard to send 29 soldiers and airmen to help volunteer fire departments.
Much of Nebraska is facing drought conditions, with severe or moderate drought in Brown County where the fire is, said Shawn Jacobs, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Platte.
“This is typical for what we see every year during the spring months. We have dry, warm, windy days and that’s kind of what happened leading up to the fire,” Jacobs said.
What really helped push the fire and made it difficult to control were gusty, erratic winds from dry showers that formed, he said.
Brown County saw from a tenth to a quarter inch (a half centimeter) of rain Wednesday and overnight, Jacobs said. Potential rain is in the forecast in days ahead.
