There were four fires in 东京热app and residents in Gage County were told to be prepared to evacuate Saturday as the state faces unseasonably warm temperatures and high winds.
Two of the fires are in Gage County, the largest fire is seven miles east of Beatrice and the other is northeast of Pickrell, according to Emergency Manager for Gage County Lisa Wiegand.
There's a third, smaller fire burning along the Nemaha/Richardson County line south of Odell on SW 61 Road, Wiegand said. Firefighters were working to put out hotspots.
U.S. Highway 136 was closed in both directions for several hours Saturday between South 21st Street and South 66 Road in Beatrice.
An emergency alert was sent out for a dangerous wildfire in north Gage County warning residents to prepare to evacuate at around 3 p.m. Saturday. Wiegand said the evacuation notice was for air quality and they might be moving a few residents.
People are also reading…
Another blaze near the intersection of South 36th Road and East Belvidere Drive southeast of Beatrice started, according to Joan Orwen, when a combine header her brother was using caught fire, which spread into the corn stubble.
Orwen said firefighters initially concentrated on protecting an acreage that was downwind of the fire.
Vehicles from a variety of rural fire districts responded to the various fires. At 36th and Belvidere, units from Wymore Fire and Rescue were in the field, with a water tanker from Farmers Cooperative in support. Units from Blue Springs and Plymouth passed by on their way to other sites.
Gale Hardin also drove up with a tanker from Wymore Fertilizer, which his sister owns. They got the call about the same time as the Huskers kicked off for their 3 p.m. game against Rutgers. He said three more trucks from the company were on their way.
Hardin, who also farms, said he called everyone he knew to warn them of the conditions, telling them, "Everybody, please shut down."
"There's so many combines going," he said.
As he was speaking, someone from the nearby Seitz Quarry stopped to say the quarry would be open and the pump available for any tanker needed to reload with water.
Wiegand said the village of Holmesville and Gold Crest Retirement Center in Adams were voluntarily evacuated, but people were returning before 6:30 p.m. Saturday.聽
The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for eastern Nebraska until 9 p.m. Saturday, meaning a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.
Rob Schlotterbeck of the Beatrice Daily Sun contributed to this story.