Numerous homes threatened as wildfire burns 2,600 acres in southeast Nebraska

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Neb. (KLKN) — Emergency management officials in Jefferson County are monitoring a massive wildfire, which has burned over 2,600 acres so far.

The fire is threatening numerous homes, along with buildings at Rock Creek Station State Historical Park.

The Jefferson County/Saline County Emergency Management agency says it’s one of the largest fires it’s seen in years.

John McKee, the emergency management director for Jefferson County, said the fire started when a controlled burn got out of hand.

The fire was 65% contained Wednesday evening, but firefighters are still watching some hot spots in the area.

“The southeast region has an incident management team we’ve started putting together,” McKee said. “As things were starting to fall apart, they helped with the financing and getting the resources, taking the pressure off of the fire departments anyway.”

Due to the high winds, firefighters are watching to make sure sparks don’t jump over to any new areas.

Officials are asking people to stay clear as they finish working on those smoldering areas.

“We’re getting a heavy load of the public out sightseeing, and it’s getting in the way of our trucks,” McKee said.

Cat Lovgren, a paramedic and firefighter with both Fairbury’s city and rural fire departments, said despite the scale of the fire, crews have managed to stay on top of it.

“The crews have actually been out here for about three days now,” she said. “It’s going way smoother than we probably could’ve ever hoped for, honestly.”

A state emergency declaration was requested to obtain more resources to battle the blaze, and Gov. Jim Pillen has approved more resources, including a helicopter for dropping water from above.

Multiple departments from across the state have been working for days on the blaze.

The State Fire Marshal Agency is currently on scene to help coordinate.

So far, no major injuries have been reported in the fire, but officials say one firefighter did suffer some smoke inhalation and has since recovered.

At the Fairbury Rural Fire Station, volunteers are also taking donations to help supply the firefighters and first responders with food, drinks and medical supplies.

Lovgren said anytime there’s major community outreach like this, “It honestly makes being a first responder and being a volunteer, it makes all of it worth it.”

Firefighters are looking for items like lip balm, eyewash, body wash, fruit, protein bars and drinks to help with hydration.

Jefferson County will also be in a Red Flag Warning until 8 p.m. Thursday, with winds expected to gust up to 45 mph and temperatures reaching the upper 80s to low 90s.