Wildfires lead to road closures, evacuations in southeast Nebraska

Wildfires sprung up Thursday afternoon in numerous areas of southeast Nebraska, leading to evacuations and road closures.

As of about 2:45 p.m., there were multiple fires in Seward, Fillmore, Saline, Jefferson, Gage and Lancaster counties.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office reported at least four different fires in the western part of the county. One about five miles east of Crete caused officials to close a section of Nebraska 33 in both directions for a short time. The Sheriff’s Office said a fire near Southwest 112th Street and West Pioneers Boulevard forced some people to evacuate briefly. That fire was quickly brought under control. Most of the other fires were brought under control by 4 p.m.

Another wildfire in Gage County caused the closure of U.S. 77 south of Pickrell for several hours.

The southern half of Nebraska was in a red flag warning Thursday, with winds gusting as high as 55 mph at the Lincoln Airport.