Community Corner
Wildfire In Nebraska National Forest Deemed 56% Contained
High humidity and lower winds Tuesday aided firefighters seeking to corral a blaze in the Halsey area.
By Paul Hammel, Nebraska Examiner:
October 4, 2022
LINCOLN — High humidity and lower winds Tuesday aided firefighters seeking to corral a blaze that has blackened over 18,000 acres of the Nebraska National Forest in Halsey and nearby ranchland.
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Brian Scott, a spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team, said some rainfall onMonday also helped to slow the so-called Bovee Fire, which destroyed a 4-H camp and lookout tower at the Halsey forest on Sunday.
The fire was deemed 56% contained as of Tuesday evening.
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“It’s been a good couple of days here,” Scott said. “The humidity has helped tremendously to lower the fire activity.”
He said there was some expansion of the fire north of Nebraska Highway 2, across private ranches west of Halsey, on Tuesday.
A mapping airplane, deployed Tuesday, calculated that 18,932 acres had burned on the forest and on adjacent ranches.
About 200 firefighters, including two elite “hot shot” crews, were fighting the fire Tuesday, Scott said.
He said there had been no additional loss of life or structures.
On Sunday, Mike Moody, 59, the assistant chief of the Purdum Volunteer Fire Department, died after experiencing a “medical emergency” while working the initial attack on the fire.
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