Nebraska's Fort Robinson State Park evacuated as wildfire spreads

Officials ordered the evacuation of Nebraska's Fort Robinson State Park as a wildfire quickly spread Wednesday.

What’s being called the South Fork Fire had reportedly burned nearly 16,000 acres in Sioux County, the most northwestern county in the state, and Dawes County to the east.

At around 5 p.m. CT, officials called for the mandatory evacuation of Fort Robinson State Park, located between Harrison and Crawford.

Evacuees were directed to Chadron, Alliance or Scottsbluff.

About 8 p.m. CT, the Chadron Volunteer Fire Department reported on its social media pages that a preliminary evacuation notice had been given to the residents of Crawford as the fire had spread to the east.

Gov. Jim Pillen ordered state National Guard troops to assist emergency personnel in fighting the fire, which started Tuesday afternoon and quickly spread throughout the day Wednesday. As of Wednesday night it was listed at 0% contained.

In a news release, Pillen said the U.S. Forest Service is also sending assistance.

“The terrain in that area is extremely rugged, and windy conditions are compounding the challenge,” Pillen said in the release. “Please keep our firefighters and responders in your prayers as they continue a tough and dangerous fight through the night.”

Pillen issued an official declaration of emergency over the fire Wednesday afternoon.

There were preliminary evacuation orders Tuesday for people near Smiley Canyon along White River Road. Nebraska Highway 20 remains closed between Crawford and Harrison was closed due to the fire, as of Wednesday evening.

Local forest service and volunteer firefighters responded and requested air support on Tuesday. At the time, the fire was only 500 acres. About three hours later, the department warned that the fire was rapidly growing and had spread across Highway 20. Managers requested an incident management team.

The National Weather Service in Cheyenne, Wyoming, had listed the area as being under a red flag warning Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday evening with southwest gusts expected over 50 mph and humidity levels of 15% or less. While the cause of the fire is unknown, local outlets reported lightning strikes in the area Tuesday night.