Large Grass Fire Burns 12-1700 Acres In Mullen Area

The fire was reported off of Hwy 97 on Mule Deer Road. Photo courtesy Mullen Fire Department Facebook Page.

With temperatures about 20 degrees above average and dry conditions, multiple fire departments were battling a grass fire off of Highway 97 near Mullen Thursday. According to Mullen Fire Chief Tyler Cash, the fire likely started with a hot catalytic converter on a pickup and burned anywhere from 12-1800 acres, based on estimates coming from aircraft that were searching for possible hot spots on Friday morning. Cash thanks the multiple departments and ranch rigs that showed up to battle the blaze. Those departments that showed up to provide mutual aid included North Platte Volunteers, Hershey, Sutherland, Heart of the Hills, Mid Cherry, Hyannis, Thedford, Tryon, Stapleton, Halsey, Arthur, and Valentine Volunteer Fire Department as well as Hooker County Roads and Hooker and Mcpherson County Sheriffs Departments . The initial call came in to a grass fire 10 miles off of Highway 97 on Mule Deer Road.