Nebraska Scorched By Record Wildfires
Nebraska Scorched By Record Wildfires
Transcript
This week, Nebraska experienced its largest series of wildfires in the state’s history.
The Morrill fire, the largest of the three fires, began in Morrill County and spread eastward, driven by strong winds. So far, over 640,000 acres across five counties have been scorched. As the fire swept across nearby Arthur County it took one life.
The Cottonwood Fire burned 128,000 acres in Lincoln and Dawson Counties.
Dozens of local fire departments assisted Nebraska and Federal fire crews in battling the blazes.
Ongoing drought in the western half of the U.S. has made grasses and trees extremely flammable. Nebraska just experienced its second warmest and fourth driest winter on record.
Rob Powell, Fire Operations Section Chief: “Right now we are sitting at 98 percent contain. We’ve got, we’ve got a black edge all the way around the fire except for this little bit of heat in this natural area. It’s a dense cottonwood stand.”
Fire officials are concerned that warm and windy weather predicted for the weekend could accelerate any new fires that are sparked in the state.
For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs
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