No repeat of wildfires needed

BEATRICE – With the threat of wildfires still fresh on the minds of area citizens, officials are hoping to avoid a repeat of recent fires through the end of this week.

The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning Wednesday for much of Nebraska, with the exception of the southeast corner. Even those areas not under the warning are included in a Fire Weather Watch.

Gage County Emergency Manager Lisa Wiegand says fire departments around the area are prepared.
"I've been in contact with 3 and 33 (mutual aid association) and all of our fire chiefs, so they're aware of it. What we learned from the last week's fires is that they are certainly calling in mutual aid a lot faster than they normally would because they know their capabilities need to be spread out. So, they're on call and proof last week that they did an amazing job....we had five incidents and a lot of outside resources. I know the co-op has filled most all of their trucks....their tender trucks with water."

Gage County Board member Terry Jurgens of rural Odell credits the various departments and personnel for their work in minimizing damage.

"Recently, I've had two in my district or my area...and I can't say enough...how in the world the rural fire departments got those put out...because they were both ugly, ugly fires. But, they managed to stop them spreading. They did an unbelievable job."

Wiegand says farmers are becoming more cautious about harvest activity in the extremely dry conditions, to avoid touching off a fire. In protecting buildings against fire, she says some nearby maintenance can help out.
"I think the big message that went out, what they learned after that, those individuals who mow around their building sites a little bit closer, a little bit lower to the ground....they were able to protect those structures with one swath of water, in comparison to high grass."

Several farmers have volunteered their tractors pulling discs to cut fire lines, aiding firefighters.

The forecast over the remaining days of this week includes gusty south winds of up to 40-miles-per-hour and relative humidity levels in the 15-to-30 percent range.