By Nebraska Emergency Management Agency
Current Situation: Critical fire weather conditions return to western Nebraska Wednesday. To support the State of Nebraska should any new fires start, the incident is staging four initial-attack groups near the Cottonwood and Morrill Fire areas that can respond quickly to requests for assistance from local fire departments. An unmanned aircraft system supplied and operated by the Nebraska State Patrol and four Nebraska and Iowa National Guard Black Hawk helicopters continue to be available to assist both fires.
Today (Wednesday) is the last day Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1 will be operating its incident command post (ICP) at the Keith County Fairgrounds in Ogallala. The team extends its gratitude and appreciation to the community and the county for the tremendous support. Some team members will work from dispersed locations in Ogallala, and others will relocate to the Lincoln County Fairgrounds ICP in North Platte, which the team will maintain through Saturday.
Cottonwood Fire: On Tuesday, fire activity was limited to occasional flare-ups within the Cottonwood Fire’s interior as pockets of unburned or partially burned trees, primarily eastern redcedar, continue to ignite. Numerous areas of critically dry vegetation remain within the perimeter. In Divisions A and D on the fire’s northwest side, hand crews continue to find and extinguish hotspots along two sections of the fire’s edge that are not yet contained. Engine crews are patrolling the contained perimeter, looking for smoldering hotspots to extinguish; they are also available to investigate smoke reports made to local 911 dispatchers. Expect to see smoke from the Cottonwood Fire today as weather conditions are likely to increase fire activity within the perimeter.
Morrill Fire: The Morrill Fire, which started on March 13, was declared 100 percent contained Tuesday evening. Fire managers do not expect the fire to get larger. However, not all the vegetation within the fire footprint was burned completely. Nor was every hotspot within the fire’s perimeter extinguished. Therefore, isolated and scattered flare-ups within the interior remain a possibility even though the outer perimeter is fully contained. Today’s very hot, dry and windy weather may cause pockets of heat to generate visible smoke. Engine crews will patrol the fire area today and will investigate reports of smoke made to local 911 dispatchers.
Weather and Fire Behavior: A Red Flag Warning—for record high temperatures, very low humidity and gusty winds—is in effect from 10 a.m. Wednesday to 10 a.m. Thursday (MDT) for western Nebraska. Record-breaking temperatures in the low 90s are possible, single-digit relative humidity levels are likely and winds from the west will be gusting up to 30 mph by afternoon. The effect of these weather conditions on fire behavior is expected to be minimal (Morrill Fire) to moderate (Cottonwood Fire) and limited to active fire spread or flare-ups well within the interiors. However, any new fire that starts in the critically dry vegetation could pose a challenge to firefighters as it would likely get established quickly and spread rapidly.
Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR): As of this morning, temporary flight restrictions are no longer in effect on either fire. Incident aircraft continue to operate over both fire areas, so we appreciate local aviators reducing aerial traffic around both fires so our air crews remain safe.
