Nebraska Wildfires Update Sunday Morning

The latest on the Road 203 Fire at Halsey was an update Mid Saturday afternoon.

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

They reported that other than the local fire departments and volunteers fighting the fire they had dispatched 2 Aircraft, 16 Engines, 6 Heavy Equipment, 1 Hand Crew

Crews and engines were working to protect values at risk by constructing dozer lines reinforced by aerial retardant drops.

Multiple aircraft were assisting with suppression efforts on the Road 203 Fire. Friday 10 large air tankers and two Type 2 helicopters supported firefighters on the ground, and additional aircraft were expected to arrive Saturday.

An unauthorized drone was observed flying in the fire area. This intrusion forced aerial firefighting operations to stop for approximately 45 minutes. The fire has burned over 37,500 acres.

The massive Morrill County Fire that NEMA said had burned as many as 453,299 acres in parts of Morrill, Garden, Keith and Arthur Counties.

Thus far, one person has been reported killed in the three major fires, a death in Arthur County that the Arthur County Sheriff’s Office confirmed via press release was as a result of the Morrill fire.

The state is also watching the Cottonwood Fire in Lincoln, Dawson and Frontier Counties, which NEMA said was burning about 100,000 acres of grassland not far from North Platte.