Wildfire burns 40,000 acres in two Nebraska counties, officials report

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A wildfire that started last week burned 40,000 acres in Blaine and Custer Counties, officials said Tuesday.

The Custer County Emergency Management Agency said the Cooksley Complex Fire was first reported on Thursday around 3 p.m.

Two homes were lost with no injuries reported at 90% containment.

The cause of the wildfire is unknown, but officials say it started near a railroad 6 miles north of Anselmo.

Strong winds caused the fire to move “extremely fast” over terrain, providing a challenge for responding firefighters.

Later that night, the agency says a storm moved through both counties, sparking an additional three lightning fires.

“These fires overloaded local fire resources spreading them out over a large geographical area,” the agency said in a press release.

Until Sunday night, several fire crews from across the state were in the area helping extinguish the flames.

The Anselmo Fire Department continued to monitor for any flare-ups in the area.

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