Dozens Of Wyoming Firefighters, Engines In Nebraska Fighting Historic Wildfires

Neighbors helping neighbors.

It’s happening on a massive scale now, as dozens of Wyoming fire engines, firefighters and communications personnel have rallied to help with a number of huge wildfires tearing through Nebraska.

Units from across Wyoming have responded to assist in what amounts to more than 750,000 acres on fire. 

The Morrill Fire, one of four wildfires raging in the state, has scorched more than 572,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in Nebraska history and among the 30 largest in United States history. 

“What happened in Nebraska last week is not a surprise,” said Justin Burkart, Chief of the Yoder Fire District south of Torrington, about how a fire first discovered Friday could explode to more than a half million acres.

The Yoder Fire Protection District is one of the Wyoming agencies helping on the ground

A lack of field moisture combined with high winds has created what Burkart called a “recipe for disaster.”

“When the wind is blowing 70 mph, there’s nothing you can do to stop (these fires),” he said.

One person has died as a result of the fast-moving Morrill Fire in western Nebraska. Rose White, 86, reportedly died Thursday in her home as winds whipped fire across the region.

The Fires

Nebraska is battling four active wildfires:

• Morrill Fire: Western Nebraska, 572,084 acres burned, 18% contained, started by a downed power line.

• Road 203 Fire: Central Nebraska, 35,386 acres, 36% contained, believed to have started as a result of a federal prescribed burn, although the cause is still under investigation.

• Cottonwood Fire: South of Interstate 80 in western Nebraska, 131,259 acres, 40% contained, cause still under investigation.

• Anderson Bridge Fire: North-central Nebraska, 17,400 acres, 60% contained.

Morrill and Cottonwood Fires

Ben Bohall, a public information officer with the Nebraska Forest Service, confirmed Tuesday that 26 engines from Wyoming are assisting on the Morrill and Cottonwood fires. 

He could not confirm which fire departments in Wyoming are assisting, but units from Campbell County, Crook County, Sublette County and Jackson Hole are on scene, according to a report from the Campbell County Fire Department. 

The Morrill Fire is getting the most attention.

“We do know it (started as) the result of a downed power line,” Bohall said.

A red flag warning went into effect at 11 a.m., with winds expected to reach 50 mph. Temperatures were in the 70s. 

About 200 personnel are currently assigned to the Morrill fire, according to wildfire.gov.

A total of 216 personnel are assigned to the Cottonwood fire, Bohall said.

Road 203 Fire

More than 50 people with Wyoming connections are at work on the Road 203 Fire, said public information officer Kristie Thompson. 

While she didn’t have official records, Thompson named Wyoming connections to the Road 203 Fire as brush trucks from Bar Nunn, Laramie County and Yoder Fire Protection District; and other assistance from Albany County, Park County, Big Horn County, Shoshoni, Bridger-Teton Fire District and the Wyoming BLM.

“I can tell you there’s been over 50 individuals that have been assigned to the Road 203 fire that call Wyoming home,” said Thompson, who lives in Cody. 

Burkart said his district sent two units to Nebraska’s Road 203 Fire. The crews left for central Nebraska on Friday morning.

Yoder Fire routinely sends equipment and firefighters to help with incidents around the West, Burkart said. 

Thompson said the Road 203 Fire was being fought with ground and aerial resources, including drones, which use infrared technology to detect spots of heat.

Drone pilots send the exact coordinates of the hot spots through a program called Field Maps to firefighters, allowing firefighters to reach a specific place faster and safer.

The Road 203 fire is using 22 engines and 153 personnel, according to wildfire.gov.

Interagency Dispatch Center

Responders with the Cheyenne Fire Rescue had just returned from an 18-day assignment in Texas when the Nebraska fires were reported. 

One of the agency’s trucks was damaged while in Texas and the department was unable to free up personnel to assist with the Nebraska fires, said Derek Pollnow, wildland coordinator with Cheyenne Fire Rescue.

“If we wouldn’t have experienced things that needed repaired, we would have come back home and our truck would have gone right up on the interagency board,” he said.

There is an order to how fire units are dispatched to national incidents, Pollnow said. Requests for additional resources are posted on an interagency board, and an interagency dispatch center sends orders for resources as needed. 

“That’s how you end up with fire crews from all over,” Pollnow said. “It’s a big moving Ouija board.”

Thompson said the neighbor-like response between states as Nebraska endures a historic natural disaster is incredible.

“We’ve got all of these individuals — 160 people at one time — and you see at least 50 of them attached to Wyoming,” Thompson said. “It’s pretty phenomenal to know that all these folks would go so easily across the border to help their Nebraska neighbors. 

“And we know Nebraska would do the same for us.”

Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.