A wildfire that started in Cottonwood Canyon south of Maxwell on Thursday, March 12, raced west across the hills during the afternoon and overnight hours, causing complete devastation in a 25-mile swath. By Friday morning, the fire had traveled to the hills south of Cozad and had forced the evacuations of countless residents in its path.

Roaring wind, dry conditions, and a dangerously low relative humidity created the perfect storm to spark wildfires all across Nebraska, including this one. The abundance of cedar woodland in the south hills fueled the flames as they raced uncontrollably across the area, sparking evacuations from Jeffrey Lake, the Farnam area, and farms south of Gothenburg and Cozad.

The ignition source is still unclear, although Brady Fire Chief Mike Gruber did say that the fire was unrelated to a prescribed burn that was conducted further west on Tuesday.

The Cottonwood Fire is just one of several that sparked across the incredibly dry state last week. On Saturday, Governor Jim Pillen provided an update on operations following an aerial tour of wildfires burning across Nebraska. He was joined in the 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 by Saturday, three of the state’s largest wildfires had damaged around 600,000 acres. Gov.

Pillen spoke specifically about impacts resulting from the Morrill County Fire, which had consumed 460,000 acres, and the Cottonwood Fire near Gothenburg, which had burned 100,000 acres. The Road 203 Fire near Halsey had burned 40,000 acres.

Over the weekend, the Nebraska National Guard deployed 29 airmen and soldiers to assist with firefighting efforts in central and western Nebraska. That includes a ground firefighting hand crew, working shoulder to shoulder with local fire teams. Two Nebraska Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters equipped with Bambi buckets were also flown to the area for aerial firefighting support.

Custer County volunteer firefighters have also answered the call to assist. On Thursday, March 12, the Callaway Fire Department sent a two-man crew and the Broken Bow department sent three personnel and one type 6 grass rig to the Road 203 fire in Halsey. On Friday, the local departments switched their efforts to the Cottonwood Fire south of Gothenburg, as members of the Broken Bow, Merna, Ansley, and Callaway fire departments departed at 5 a.m. to help fight the fire in Dawson and Lincoln Counties, returning at about 9 p.m. each night.

“In the coming days we will be ready to go if called on,” said Callaway Fire Chief Dan Trumbull.

As crews continued to battle the blaze with zero percent containment by Sunday, the winds once again strengthened, hindering the efforts to try to get the fire under control. Meanwhile, the Governor has issued a statewide burning ban in effect until March 27.

As of noon Tuesday the Cottonwood Fire was officially listed as 40% contained; however, Dawson County Emergency Management Director Brian Woldt said he believes that figure is actually much high. The Road 203 fire was listed as 36% contained.

We will continue our report on the historic fires next week when more information and damage reports are available.