South Fork Fire in northwest Nebraska now 90% contained

A wildfire that’s been burning in northwest Nebraska for almost two weeks is nearly contained.

The South Fork Fire started Tuesday, June 9 in Sioux County, the northwesternmost county in Nebraska. It eventually spread into nearby Dawes County as it grew to nearly 40,000 acres.

Firefighters struggled to control the wildfire, which eventually prompted several area evacuations, including an evacuation order for Fort Robinson State Park.

The fire was listed as 90% contained as of Monday morning. As of Sunday, 187 personnel were working the fire and continuing to patrol its perimeter.

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2, a federal firefighting task force, was called in as the fire grew. Over the weekend the group announced that command would transfer over to smaller type 3 incident management team on Sunday.

The South Fork Fire is the latest in a string of wildfires that have torn through Nebraska this year. The Morrill Fire burned more than 643,000 acres in western Nebraska earlier this spring — the largest wildfire in state history — while the Cottonwood Fire burned more than 129,000 acres in central Nebraska around the same time.

Overall, more than 1 million acres have burned in the state this year.

The National Weather Service reported that multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms are expected for Monday night, including a chance of storms over the panhandle from around 4-8 p.m.