Firefighters contain Old 83 Fire; respond to two additional fires south of North Platte and one fire near McCook
By KNOP News 2
By News Channel NebraskaLINCOLN, Neb. (KNOP) - Firefighters were called to three fires south of North Platte, and one fire near McCook this weekend, according to Watchduty.org.
The Old 83 Fire was reported at 3:37 a.m. on Sunday as a vegetation fire. The fire was seen moving southwest and additional mutual aid was requested, at this time the fire was renamed to the “Old 83 Fire.” As of 4:31 a.m., the fire has since been contained, however high winds in the area remain an issue.
The Maywood Fire was reported on Saturday by the National Interagency Fire Center at 12:20 p.m. It’s affected .1 acres.
Meanwhile, firefighters were called to a vegetation fire west of Harry Strunk Lake at 1:58 p.m. As of 5:50 p.m., firefighters were clearing the scene.
While this was going on, the Cottonwood Fire continues near Gothenburg. According to Mountain Complex Incident Team 1, the extreme weather from this afternoon contributed to significant fire behavior within pockets of unburned fuel on the Fire. The conditions led to the ignition and loss of three unoccupied responder vehicles, but no injuries were reported. An investigation into the incident is underway. No further details are available at this time. This fire has burned 128,036 acres and is currently 94 percent contained.
Firefighters were also called to a vegetation fire at 6:26 p.m. south of McCook near the 71100 block of Highway 83. According to the Red Willow County Sheriff’s Office, fire crews are still monitoring the fire as of 9 p.m.
Red Willow Western Rural, Culbertson Fire, Beaver Valley Fire, McCook Fire and Rescue and Indianola in Decatur County, Kan., as well as several farmers with tractors and disks all battled the blaze at the front edge of he fire hot spots and appear to have the fire maintained. The Department of Roads and Sheriff’s Department were also helping vehicles navigate through the smoke.
One firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion, but no other injuries have been reported.