Wildfire races across northern Gage County
Blaze that started near Hickory Road, Pushed by 50 mph gusts
BEATRICE – Firefighters were battling a major grass fire that shut down a few miles of U.S. Highway 77 in northern Gage County, Thursday afternoon.
The fire apparently began along West Hickory Road, less than a mile northwest of Beatrice Community Hospital.
Southwest winds gusting to 50-miles per hour pushed flames across fields for at least two miles….and the flames moving northeast eventually jumped U.S. Highway 77.
Fire units from Beatrice Rural, Pickrell, Filley, DeWitt and Blue Springs were among those battling the blaze, aided by several farmers using tractors and discs…and at least one road grader….helping to cut lines around the fire.
Some property owners along the path of the fire were evacuated, but there have been no confirmed reports of any injuries, or structures lost.
U.S. Highway 77 was shut down from Hickory Road to Elm Road. The fire eventually jumped the four-lane roadway in that area. A Gage County Sheriff’s investigator said motorists were being encouraged to reroute to Nebraska Highway 103, or a county hard-surfaced road between Filley and Adams.
Dense, fast moving smoke was limiting visibility in the area, to almost zero, at times.
It’s not certain what triggered the fire, but a burn pattern showed the flames started just off the north side of West Hickory Road, moving quickly to the northeast.
Gage County Emergency Manager Lisa Wiegand said by mid afternoon, Gage County had six separate rural fires that departments across the area were battling.
"Just a great job by all our mutual aid and our fire departments....they've been working really, really hard."
The fires during red flag warnings began around the noon hour and spread rapidly, due to dry conditions and a southwest wind that was gusting to 50-miles-per-hour across the area.
"Structures have all been secured. We did have some evacuations to the truck stop and also some homes there. There's a couple of spots where we have some departments watching, with grass rigs."
Firefighters were getting a lot of help from area farmers using tractors and discs to cut fire lines…..and road graders could be seen also helping cut around fire areas. Some private entities were helping with water supply, in addition to tanker trucks of various local fire departments.