Governor Jim Pillen on Saturday took an aerial tour of wildfires burning across parts of Nebraska.
He was joined in a briefing at the Keith County Fairgrounds by U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts and U.S. Representative Adrian Smith.
Lt. Colonel Scott Henrickson, chief of the joint staff for the Nebraska National Guard, also spoke, providing an update on personnel and equipment deployed by the Nebraska National Guard to support local firefighters.
In total, three of the state’s largest wildfires have damaged around 600,000 acres.
Pillen spoke specifically about impacts resulting from the Morrill County Fire, which has now consumed 460,000 acres, and the Lincoln County (Cottonwood Fire) near Gothenburg, which has burned 100,000 acres. The Road 203 Fire near Halsey has burned 40,000 acres.
Pillen emphasized the state is taking a proactive approach to enlisting additional resources for fire suppression and providing assistance to community volunteer firefighters, who have been working around the clock. Earlier Saturday, he called the mayors of Omaha, Lincoln, and Columbus to see what fire personnel and equipment they would be able to provide.
He also indicated he would contact other mayors and nearby states, to see what assistance they could lend.
The Nebraska National Guard has deployed 29 airmen and soldiers to assist with firefighting efforts in central and western Nebraska.
That includes a ground firefighting hand crew, which is working shoulder to shoulder with local fire teams.
Two Nebraska Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters equipped with Bambi buckets have also been flown to the area for aerial firefighting support.
The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency has requested and received approval from FEMA for a Fire Management Assistance Grant, which is designed to help support efforts to mitigate, manage, and control fires on public or private forests or grasslands.
That assistance may help recover some of the costs associated with the state’s ongoing fire response.
The Governor also highlighted ongoing assistance from the Nebraska Department of Transportation, which is providing road graders in order to create necessary roadblocks to prevent the spread of flames.
The Governor repeated the need to follow any locally issued evacuation orders.
There has been one confirmed fire-related fatality.
(Picture from Nebraska Governor's Office)