LINCOLN, NEB. (RFD NEWS) — Nebraska is facing the largest wildfires in state history, as ranchers work to secure feed and relocate cattle amid ongoing fire conditions. Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen has issued an executive order to provide emergency relief as the situation continues to unfold.
Gov. Pillen joined us on Thursday’s Market Day Report to provide an update on current conditions and the state’s response to the fires.
“So there is good—the good news this morning would be that there’s really been improved containment. We’ve been going on, I think we’re on our fifth or sixth day now, and containment numbers have risen to be in that 60 to 70 percent range,” Pillen explained. “The size of the fires—hard to comprehend—with the four major fires, one is like 130,000 acres. The other ones—over 650,000 acres. To give everybody an idea what that means—over 800,000 acres—that would be an area of a square, 35 miles by 35 miles. That’s really, really hard to comprehend..”
In his interview with RFD News, Pillen discussed what he is hearing from ranchers and community members affected by the Morrill, Cottonwood, and other major fires burning across the state right now, including the challenges Nebraskans are facing on the ground.
“The love and the grace that’s being poured out to Nebraska from all over the country is extraordinary,” Pillen said. “Sometimes we say in Nebraska there’s an urban-rural divide—I can tell you, that’s not the case. The city of Omaha is pouring out to the Panhandle. The city of Lincoln—it’s bringing us all together, unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime. [...] The heart and soul of why we’re going to get through this is our volunteer firefighters. We have people driving three, four, even five hours as part of their volunteer departments to help.”
Pillen also outlined details of the executive order aimed at assisting with agricultural supplies. However, he said many other surrounding states have also stepped up to help provide addtional volunteers and supplies.
“We’ve mobilized everything with our National Guard, with our Nebraska Emergency Management,” he said. “We have the Federal Emergency Management—we’ve got federal partners helping. So from the federal government, to the state, to the local, and then our volunteers—we’re winning. We’re beating Mother Nature solely because of the people in Nebraska and the volunteers. It’s really extraordinary. So, containment is happening.”
“We’ve helped when Kansas or Oklahoma has fires—they’re helping us. And so it’s working to find people’s needs and get them places so that they can get back on their feet as quickly as possible,” he said. “And also really grateful—Iowa, Missouri have sent equipment our way to help us, because we needed help from the air to be able to get water into areas where our volunteers could not get to. So we’ve had incredible support from the president all the way to governors, the federal government, other state governments, andFEMA. We’re incredibly grateful for the outpouring of help that we’ve received.”
However, Pillen said when it comes to fighting the fires, strategic concerns remain on the ground. additional
“The strategic concerns that we have—we’re very, very dry. And, you know, it’s going to be 90 degrees here on March 19 today,” he said. “So very warm, very dry—fires can start anywhere else, just like these did. And we have windy days and dry days ahead. So we need rain. We need a lot of rain. Until we get that, we’re on high alert. We have to really, really have every volunteer, everybody in agriculture—everybody—have fire extinguishers with them, because you never know when a spark can happen.”
Finally, Pillen addressed potential ripple effects from the damage and what producers should keep in mind moving forward, including the importance of documentation. He said producers are asking for help, and those needs are being met by the community and federal partners. Looking ahead, he mentioned Agriculuture Secretary Brooke Rollins will be on the ground Monday to survey the damage and assess disaster needs for agriculture.
“Yeah, you know, bottom line is—we’re here, and hey, we need help with this, we need help with that—from getting more grazing ground,” he said. “So we’re going to have Secretary Rollins is going to be here on Monday. We have several million acres of CRP ground, which is set-aside ground that is just growing. We can get that activated. So we’re working on making sure any resources we have—and then just bringing people together and saying, okay, there are programs within the USDA, there are programs within the Farm Service Agency—and then having conduits. [...] And you know, yesterday, one person brought up—because we don’t like that in Nebraska, we don’t like to ask for help—and one person said, you know, we’ve seen a lot of hard stuff. We need more providers out here to help us. We got to talk to somebody. And so our mental well-being—making sure we’re all okay, making sure we’re looking after each other—is really, really important.”
He also spoke to the agricultural community’s response and where the greatest needs may be as recovery efforts continue.
“This kind of fire in Nebraska—what’s different than a fire that takes place in federal land or in the forest would be—we’re all making our living off this land. So we’re put out of business for a year. This land will not be able to have mama cows on. So, you know, we need to find homes for like 40,000 mama cows. We need to find a lot of hay, and we have people coming in, bringing things in from everywhere.”
While they fight the fires, a top priority, it is difficult to assess how much damage to the state’s cattle industry will take place until true recovery efforts can begin.
“You know, we’re going to lose some livestock,” Pillen said. “I talked to ranchers yesterday—the mama cows—we haven’t lost lots, because Mother Nature—they figure out what to do themselves. In a blizzard, they figure out where to go, and, you know, find protection in this fire. But respiratory issues because of the smoke—some babies are already getting sick. So, you know, we’ve got a long way ahead to get it all sorted out.”
The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has received 24 reports of wildfires.
Major fires that are being tracked include the following:
- The Road 203 Fire south of the communities of Halsey and Dunning within the Nebraska National Forest. Due to its location, this fire is currently being managed by federal authorities.
- The Lincoln County Fire (Cottonwood Fire). south of I-80, near Brady and Gothenburg.
- The Morrill County Fire north of Nebraska Highway 92, between Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Lake McConaughy.
- The Anderson Bridge Fire west of Valentine.
The Governor and his team have been closely monitoring these fires, which worsened significantly late yesterday amid continued severe wind conditions across Nebraska. The fires have grown beyond the capacity of local wildland fire responders and firefighters.
“These fires present a significant and active danger, given current weather conditions,” said Gov. Pillen in his emergency declaration. “Anyone living within proximity to current wildfires are urged to heed communications issued by local authorities, including their respective county emergency management agencies.”
Gov. Pillen ordered the activation and deployment of multiple state assets and resources in response to the fires. Fire response actions include:
- Authorizing the deployment of 26 Nebraska National Guard soldiers and airmen to assist local fire crews.
- Ordering the deployment of a fixed-wing fire suppression aircraft for fire suppression.
- Ordering the deployment of a Nebraska Army National Guard helicopter and crew to support local firefighters with quick and targeted aerial water drops, particularly in areas where ground response capabilities are limited.
- Ordering the deployment of a Nebraska Army and Air National Guard firefighting hand crew to support local firefighters.
- Ordering several Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) road graders to Oshkosh and the surrounding areas. This heavy equipment will assist in creating firebreaks to slow the spread of existing wildfires and contain them.
- Activating a Complex Incident Management Team (CIMT) for consolidated management of the Morrill County and Lincoln County fires, which have exceeded 300,000 acres and 50,000 acres, respectively.
- Activating the State Emergency Operations Center to provide centralized interagency coordination and monitoring at NEMA headquarters in Lincoln.
This is a developing story. Stay with RFD NEWS on-air and online for updates.
