Fatality reported in west-central Nebraska as wildfires rage on

At least one person in Arthur County has died after several large wildfires broke out Thursday night across Nebraska, burning hundreds of thousands of acres and forcing people to evacuate.

The Arthur County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a fatality as a result of the Morrill County wildfire. The individual's name was being withheld Friday afternoon pending an investigation and notification of family.

A press release from the department said the fire had burned more than 340,000 acres with 0% containment.

Firefighters worked to contain four primary fires in western and central Nebraska into Friday.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen declared a state of emergency Friday morning for Morrill, Garden, Arthur, Keith, Lincoln, Dawson, and Frontier counties in response to the wildfires.

“These fires present a significant and active danger, given current weather conditions,” Pillen said in a press release. “Anyone living within proximity to current wildfires are urged to heed communications issued by local authorities, including their respective county emergency management agencies.”

As part of the proclamation NDOT road graders were ordered to assist with fire breaks, National Guard troops will assist local firefighters, National Guard helicopters will provide aerial firefighting and a state-led Complex Incident Management Team will be launched to coordinate response efforts.

Pillen issued a statewide burn ban Friday afternoon, to reduce the potential for additional wildfires. His executive order will remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. on March 27.

Pillen plans to tour the areas impacted by the wildfires and provide an update at 10 a.m. CT at the Keith County Fairgrounds on efforts to contain them.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning on Thursday afternoon, warning that any fires would likely spread uncontrollably due to the wind and dry conditions. Firefighters were battling four large fires as of midday Friday.

The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency reported Friday morning it had received 24 wildfire reports in a 24-hour period.

The large fire in the western panhandle of Nebraska that burned more than 300,000 acres also destroyed six unspecified structures.

According to information from Watch Duty, the Morrill Fire traveled more than 65 miles in roughly six hours and was still growing.

Evacuation orders were put in place for areas north of Lake McConaughey.

The Garden County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday announced mandatory evacuations for Lewellen residents, who were advised to go to Big Springs High School. The evacuation order was lifted late Thursday night.

The Scottsbluff Rural Fire Protection District shared in a social media post that the fire was at 0% containment Friday morning, and producing large amounts of smoke. The department advised people with health issues should stay indoors.

Trinette Wells, Captain of the Bridgeport Fire Department, said the wildfires have been scattered throughout the area, making them more difficult to contain.

“The winds do not work in our favor whatsoever, especially when they're constantly shifting,” Wells said. “And then what a lot of people don't realize as well is that the fire makes its own wind. So … it's two to three times more than that. So (Thursday) at one point we had 72 mph wind gusts. With the fire, we were actually fighting 150 mph winds.”

Wells added that while most of the department’s calls are for wildfires, there hasn’t been one this large for at least a couple of decades.

Fortunately for firefighters, area residents pulled together to collect donations. There were piles of donated water bottles, food and medicine dropped off from Bridgeport residents and nearby towns, and Wells said the department staff and volunteers are working to get those out to people who need them.

A fire in central Nebraska being referred to as the Road 203 Fire broke out across Thomas, Custer, Logan, and Blaine counties. The fire near Halsey burned nearly 36,000 acres as of early Friday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The Nebraska Forest Service shared that the wildfire had spread an estimated 15 miles, and firefighters from several departments were on the scene.

Katrina Cerveny with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said as of 10 a.m. Friday, the fire in Lincoln, Dawson and Frontier counties had burned 50,000 acres and at least 300 people were evacuated.

North Platte-Lincoln County 911 reported that the community of Brady, around 20 miles east of North Platte, opened a school so evacuees could take advantage of food, water, blankets, and beds.

The North Platte Police Department shared on social media that all residents of Jeffrey Lake, located a few miles south of Brady, were to evacuate their residences and seek shelter at the Brady Community Center.

Another fire in Dawson County forced people in the community of Farnam to evacuate.

At around 9 p.m. Thursday, the Dawson County Emergency Management Agency ordered the town's 180 residents to drive 12 miles southeast to Eustis and seek shelter because a wildfire burning in the southwest part of the county was expected to shift direction due to changing winds and potentially push flames toward Farnam. The evacuation order was lifted early Friday afternoon.

In the opposite corner of the state, the Fairbury Rural Fire Department shared via social media that several rural fire departments in southeast Nebraska were sending firefighters to the Brady area to assist with the wildfire, including firefighters from Fairbury, Beatrice, Daykin, Diller, Barneston, Blue Springs, Wymore and Odell.

Another fire in Cherry County west of Valentine burned a reported 5,000 acres as of Friday morning.

The Prairie Club, a golf resort located near Valentine, said in a post on its Facebook page that the fire, which started south of Kilgore, was "aggressively" moving toward the resort.

"Highway 97 is closed both south and north of the club, and the area has been evacuated, as our brave emergency responders have been sent to the scene," the post said.

In response to the fires, the Bessey Ranger District closed the Nebraska National Forest and the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest on Friday until further notice.

As firefighters struggled to gain the upper hand against wildfires Friday, the National Weather Service issued another red flag warning for most of Nebraska on Saturday with gusts up to 30 mph possible, paired with low relative humidity and temperatures around 25 degrees above normal.