Large grass fire burning Lincoln and Dawson County; counties declare emergency and request state assistance

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - Nearly two dozen fire departments are on scene of a massive wildfire that started late Monday morning.

The fire started northeast of North Platte and has spread into eastern Lincoln County and Dawson County.

Residents north of Maxwell, Brady and Gothenburg were ordered to evacuate. Highway 30 between Maxwell and Gothenburg is closed and Highway 47 north of Gothenburg is also closed. Residents north of these communities have been asked to evacuate.

North Platte Fire Chief Dennis Thompson has requested that landowners 8-9 miles north of Brady area turn on their pivots immediately to assist in the eventual stop of the blaze. Chief Thompson stated that the fire had jumped numerous roads and flames were intensified by westerly winds.

Local officials in Custer and Lincoln counties have declared emergencies and requested state assistance due to the wildfire affecting the area. The North Platte/Lincoln County Emergency Operations Center was activated immediately and has been monitoring the situation and coordinating resources since the fire started.

Governor Jim Pillen approved a state disaster which allows funds from the Governor’s Emergency Fund to be used to assist in the response.

At the request of county officials, Nebraska’s Incident Management Team, as well as members of the state’s Wildland Incident Response Assistant Team, have been deployed and will assist local responders in the coming days. Two National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters will be deployed to the fire and begin operations to drop water on the fire beginning Tuesday.

Additional aircraft will be used to map the fire to assist teams as they plan the best strategy to fight the fire.

The fire started Monday around 10:30 a.m. and is in the same vicinity as another large grass fire on Feb. 14. A red flag warning remains in effect until 9 p.m.

Stay with knopnews2.com for updates on this developing story.

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