Gage County fires scorched thousands of acres, destroyed one building over the weekend

Firefighters in Gage County were busy this weekend after five separate fires broke out in area.

There were fires near Odell, Holmesville and Pickrell. As of Monday, only one building was reported destroyed, and there were no casualties.

One of the larger fires was outside of Pickrell. It burned several miles of stubble fields, as well as unharvested corn and soybean crops. Around 200 firefighters battled the flames. Help came from Wymore, Blue Springs, Barneston, Odell, Diller, Plymouth, Beatrice, Filley, Pickrell, Cortland, Clatonia, Adams and Firth, as well as from Hanover and Maryville, Kansas.

“Everybody came together as a community, and it really worked out,” said Blue Springs Volunteer Fire Chief Aaron McCrimmon. “Everybody that helped, we thank all the farmers and everybody that donated stuff, it really helped us a lot.”

McCrimmon was on the move Saturday, starting at Odell, near the state line of Nebraska and Kansas. He then moved towards a fire southeast of Beatrice, around South 51st Road and East Belvidere Drive. Sunday, he helping contain a fire northeast of Holmesville near East Lilac and South 66th roads.

He said the dry conditions and high temperatures, combined with strong winds were the perfect formula for wildfires to start and spread.

The fires were 100% contained as of Monday morning.