Nebraska Wildfires Update Tuesday Afternoon over 750,000 Acres Burned

The latest on the Road 203 Fire at Halsey was an update Tuesday morning. Cooler weather helped..

The Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 3 had assumed command on Saturday.

They reported that other than the local fire departments and volunteers fighting the fire they had dispatched 1 Aircraft, 22 Engines, 6 Heavy Equipment, and 160 personnel working on the fire. They have been using drones to map the fire and mark hot spots. The latest report on the number of acres burned is at 35,386. A helicopter was used to drop firefighters in harder to access areas.

The fire is South of Highway 2, South of Halsey and West of Dunning. It seems they have kept it North of the Dismal River.

An unauthorized drone was observed flying in the fire area. This intrusion forced aerial firefighting operations to stop for approximately 45 minutes.

The massive Morrill County Fire that NEMA said had burned as many as 572,00 acres in parts of Morrill, Garden, Keith and Arthur Counties. This is now the largest wildfire in state history. Tuesday morning officials said 18% contained. There have been numerous buildings and some homes destroyed. They reported that at least 35,000 head of livestock would need to be relocated to area with feed or grazing.

86 year old Rose White, a grandmother perished trying to flee the fast-moving fire according to reports. There were 200 personnel working on the fire at this report.

The state is also watching the Cottonwood Fire in Lincoln, Dawson and Frontier Counties, which NEMA said had grown to about 131,000 acres of grassland not far from North Platte. that fire covers an area about 40 miles East to West from Brady to Farnam. 216 firefighters are working on the fire with 40% contained.

Federal authorities have now assumed control of all three fires working with local efforts.