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Sunday, Sep 2, 2012 10:15 PM UTC

Neb. wildfires grow with help of strong winds

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Topics: From the Wires,

Neb. wildfires grow with help of strong windsBlack soot remains at the site of the West Ash fire at Chadron State Park near Chadron Neb., Sunday, Sept. 2, 2012. Nebraska Gov. Dave Heinaman toured the West Ash fire site and visited with local officials. (AP Photo/Omaha World-Herald, Jeff Beiermann, Pool)(Credit: AP)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Wildfires in northwestern Nebraska tripled in size in fewer than 24 hours, as strong winds pushed flames through the rugged, rural terrain.

More than 270 square miles — an area more than twice the size of the state’s largest city, Omaha — had burned by Sunday afternoon, fire officials said. One of the fires had crossed into South Dakota this weekend and continued to burn on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

A day earlier, the fires had only burned roughly 93 square miles in the ranching territory that’s favored by deer and turkey hunters.

“We’ve got a very challenging situation out here because of the winds and the very dry conditions,” Gov. Dave Heineman said Sunday after touring the damage and meeting with officials.

Cooler weather moved through the area Saturday night, helping firefighters mostly contain two major fires — the West Ash and Douthit fires — near Chadron. But winds gusted up to 40 mph Sunday, helping spread the fires through drought-stricken trees and grasses.

The Wellnitz fire, north of Rushville, broke through containment lines Sunday, Heineman said. The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said it has burned roughly 136 square miles.

Overall, the fires have destroyed at least one home in Nebraska and one in South Dakota and forced the evacuation of several small communities. Residents of the small town of Whitney, southwest of Chadron, were allowed to return home Sunday.

Ranchers who live in the area know the wildfires will scar the land.

Verona Douthit, 65, has always lived in these hills on land her family bought in 1929. Because one of the current fires started on her ranch, officials have named it after her last name.

Douthit says she knows it takes a long time for the land to recover — some of her family’s land burned in 1989 — and the pine trees she loves may never be the same.

“It probably will take a person’s lifetime to see it like it was again, and it may never happen,” Douthit said.

The Douthit fire is nearly contained, but it burned about 30,000 acres. The other fire in the area, the West Ash fire, had consumed nearly 58,000 acres by Sunday and was about half contained.

Douthit said it has been fantastic to see the way people came together to help fight the fire and support those affected. She and her 66-year-old husband especially appreciated the help because of their age.

“We’re retirement age, so we’re not as agile anymore,” Douthit said.

More than 35 volunteer firefighting departments are working with NEMA and federal incident command teams to battle the wildfires.

More Josh Funk.

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