Nebraska Wildfire Burning Out of Control sparked by lightning..100,000 acres burning.

Not much in the News about this fire...


Prayers for Nebraskans...

Update: Donations Needed

Sunday, July 22, 2012, Noon:

Ord and North Loup area residents can help with donations for supplies for all of the firefighters including area firefighters fighting the blaze. According to Kara Coufal of North Loup some of the firefighters are running low on water and gatorade and rationing supplies. Area residents are invited to donate water, gatorade, towels, old drink coolers that you are willing to donate as they will not be returned, also eyedrops and suntan lotion. Monetary donations would also be appreciated as some food and other supplies are being purchased for the firefighters.

Donations of supplies and money can be dropped off at Trotters Truck Plaza in Ord and at the Pump and Pantry in Ord. This effort may go on for several days.

wow i live in NE and havent heard a damn thing about this on the news rofl...just crap about jazz on the green and riverfest and a walmart shoplifter etc...

Yikes! really?

Your news channels are not talking about this?

I dont mean to be offensive but how does this happen in Nebraska? Isn't the whole place leveled and nothign but farms?

What is burning, the farms?

Heat of Niobrara River Canyon Fire felt all the way in Mitchell...



The Niobrara River Canyon Fire continues to burn a path across North-Central Nebraska. Crews having been battling the lightning-sparked blaze since Friday and right now emergency managers tell us the conditions aren't improving.

The fire may be in Nebraska but Jean Bucholz is feeling the heat all the way in Mitchell, South Dakota. Bucholz grew up on a ranch near Springview, NE and has been watching the fire closely as are her family members are currently on the fire's front line.

"I told my mom, I had heard the fire was so close to there, do you need us to come down there? do you need us to evacuate you or anything? She said, no you don't need to panic or anything, the fire is more south of Springview, and my parents ranch is 9 miles from Springview." Said Bucholz.

At least 10 buildings in Norden have been consumed by the fire which is burning an estimated 100,000 acres across Nebraska. The Region 24 Emergency Management Agency says there are more than 300 firefighters on the ground, as well as three Blackhawk Helicopters and a C-130 in the air.

Bucholz says she's been glued to Facebook and has found out how many others in Mitchell have friends and family also in harms way.

"we're all kind of clinging to Facebook, did you hear anything? this is what I saw, pictures, the whole bit, everyone is just posting what they can."" Said Bucholz.

The biggest challenge right now is the wind, at times gust will reach 30 miles an hour sparking hotspots into blazes. Bucholz says she's just hoping the wind doesn't turn the fire and take the family ranch as well many childhood memories with it.

"I love taking my kids and grand kids there because it's a piece of what we grew up with, living in town us a whole different story." Said Bucholz.

Bucholz says her mother has told her not to worry, but Bucholz says she'll probably be making a trip south this weekend.

"Obviously if the fire changes direction I'm going! the only thing is being two and a half hours away it's pretty tough to evacuate somebody but if they want me there I'll be there." Said Bucholz.

[link to www.ksfy.com]

Niobrara is Northern Nebraska and is a lot more canyony and foresty than any other part of Nebraska.

Also, the plains of Nebraska get really dry so I can see how they would burn.

It must be headed twoard South Dakota, I believe they are having a major drought there as well.....

Damn,if it hits the dry prairie grass its on

Rosebud reservation wildfires continue to spread....


ROSEBUD, S.D. (AP) - Just as firefighters contained about 25 percent of the wildfires cutting across Rosebud Indian Reservation, a lightning strike started another blaze.

Rocky Mountain Area Incident Commander Joe Lowe says thunderstorms have come close to helping firefighters the past several nights, but each time the rain stops four or miles north of the flames.

Speaking Monday at a Rosebud Sioux Tribe special session, Lowe says that firefighters will burn off brush that's serving as fuel for the blaze in hopes of controlling its path.

Lowe says that although the area has been burning since Thursday, so far, no homes, people or firefighters have been lost or injured. It isn't clear yet if domestic animals or cattle have been killed.

Tribe President Rodney Bordeaux has asked for state and federal help.

Haven't heard anything about this fire around here. I live south of Mitchell. No smoke smell or heat here. Mitchell is about 151 miles from the fire's location. I doubt they are feeling the heat from it, though it has been hot here.

If it started on the 22nd then I know the horrible storm they are talking about, I watched it roll in from Interstate 90

If it is really that big, don't you find it interesting that you haven't heard anything about it in Mitchell?

Is there any way to know exactly where the fire is? I know some people that live near that area of NE. Please let me know!

Blessings to Nebraska

Lightning=van full of "fire jihadists" ???? If so, they sure get around..................

Huge swaths of rolling hills and long-grass prairie in that part of the state. It's far from flat.

Tons of fuel with the dry conditions.

for later

I'm in Nebraska too and this is the first I've heard as well! Really pisses me off!

Googled Nebraska wildfire and there were a lot of hits. First time I heard of it too.

Evverything burns at this point, failed crops, grass. We are in the worst drought and hottest summers on record,everything at this point is combustible,with hot 30 mph winds

Some of the cornfields around here are completely dry and brown. Probably worse out where the real farms start. We are going to see a lot of this.

Hello? Anything plant material that is dry can catch on fire. Here in local neighborhood, there was a grass fire in two people's yard as a transformer blew and threw a spark. The grass is brown (aka dried out) and a fire started in one yard. The resident tried to stop it with a hose but it started spreading. Another neighbor called the fire department and they were successful in putting out the fire.

Yes ,there isn't much relief in sight. I don't think people can conceive how bad ALL of this is going to be.Fires, failed crops, food prices and shortage of food.Europes season was horrible with flooding,same in china an russia.

here's the only good news:

once upon a time, fires occurred naturally as consequences of natural phenomena, and were a highly destructive but essential part of the eco system's health, a way of regenerating the land. with the interference of mankind, this no longer happens. the earth has been used and abused with pesticides, overgrazing, GMO's, and natural cleansing cycles have become a thing of the past.

[link to www.journalstandard.com]

Within a few years the new prairie will require burning. The fire will kill off the thistles and other weeds, stimulate the growth of new plants and cleanse the land. The prairie and savanna are fire dependent eco-systems that flourish with the aid of fire.

Imagine if you will, the biggest grass fire you’ve ever seen. It would pale in comparison to the fires that once raged across the landscape in times before the European settlers came to the Midwest. Imagine fires burning for days, marching for miles across the plains, herds of wildlife and huge flocks of birds fleeing before the advance of the flames.

Once the prairie has been burned you can stare across the charred terrain in awe of the power of the flames, only to feel more awe-stricken in a few weeks when the same location has a new beginning. Green shoots of grass and plant leaves have now begun to sprout through the blackened earth. In spite of the conflagration, the prairie has begun to return to life. Soon, a tufted carpet of green will replace the black soot and dust. Eventually the land blossoms with forbs and tall grasses. With the return of plant life come the birds and all other living things that thrive on the prairie.

*****************

[link to en.wikipedia.org]

native american use of fire:

Fire scientists and ecologists often find old fire scars in trees going back hundreds of years. Geographers studying lake sediments often find evidence of charcoal layers going back thousands of years, attributing the data to prehistoric fires caused by climatic warming and drying conditions. Since the trees and sediments cannot document how the fires started, lightning becomes the easiest “natural” explanation. Early researchers thought that no large burning was carried out by natives, but research during the latter half of the 20th century has shown that many or most of the presettlement fires were intentionally caused.

Keeping large areas of forest and mountains free of undergrowth and small trees was just one of many reasons for using fire in ecosystems. Intentional burning has greatly modified landscapes across the continent in many subtle ways that have often been interpreted as natural by the early explorers, trappers, and settlers. Many research scientists who study presettlement forest and savanna fire evidence tend to attribute most prehistoric fires as being caused by lightning (natural) rather than by humans. This problem arises because there was no systematic record keeping of these fire events. Thus the interaction of people and ecosystems is down played or ignored, which often leads to the conclusion that people are a problem in "natural" ecosystems rather than the primary force in their development.

My son's best friend just flew there (16 years old) to volunteer for 3 weeks. They were going to be fixing signs, but can't because of the fire. They took their cell phones away so they would bond with their peers????

I'd have kept my kid home. Fires are no place for children. I hope it rains there...Hard.

If it is really that big, don't you find it interesting that you haven't heard anything about it in Mitchell?
[/quote

The fact that the major news agencies have not picked up on this is that they really just don't care....obviously Nebraska isn't high on their list of priorities. As a native of this area of Nebraska, it really pisses me off!

My parents live only 6 miles from the Niobrara River Valley and have been watching several fires rage for the past several days. My family farms, so my dad and brothers have been taking tankers of water down to the fires around our area. There are several fires beyond the Fairfield Fire, so resources are being stretched thin.

As far as the comment about being mostly farms. There are many farms in the area, however most of the areas where the fires are located is full of canyons, trees, and brush meaning it is only used for grazing cattle. As of now they are trying to keep it contained within canyons, thereby lowering the loss of homes. Most of the cattle have been moved and any residents living within the valley, in the path of the fires, have been told to evacuate.

I can only hope and pray that they are able to gain control of the fires soon, but with temps reaching over 100 degrees and howling winds that is unlikely. I was born and raised in this area and it pains me to see the land and people that I love being effected this way!