Progress Made in Containing Nebraska Wildfire

Progress has been made toward fully containing a deadly southwestern Nebraska wildfire that has been burning since last week, officials said.

Crews had 88% of the Road 702 Fire contained behind fire breaks by Thursday morning, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said in a news release. More than 220 firefighters and other personnel have been working in recent days to dig trenches and create other breaks to contain the fire, which has burned an estimated 68 square miles of mostly grass and farm land.

Crews on Thursday were focused on containing two areas of uncontrolled burning just south of US Highway 6 along the Republican River.

Firefighters were keeping an eye on the sky for thunderstorms forecast for Thursday evening into early Friday. Officials were hoping for a wetting rain with the storms, but wary of lightning and shifting winds expected to reach up to 50 mph by Saturday, which could spark new fires and spread existing hot spots.

Last week, a retired volunteer fire chief helping with the effort died when his truck went off the road in a blinding haze of smoke and dust. The fire has also destroyed several homes and injured several firefighters.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire