Flames flare as firefighters battle the Morrill wildfire in Garden County over the weekend – photo Joe Van NewKirk
Ranchers rally support after Nebraska fires
York News-Times Reprint
Written by Grace Ptak – Scottsbluff StarHerald
When the Morrill Fire got within three miles of Joe Van Newkirk’s ranch headquarters in Oshkosh, he and his family — reluctant to leave their livestock — leapt into defensive action instead.
“We were getting some baby calves on the ground and we had a good handle on things,” Van Newkirk said. “We have a couple center pivots to the north of the buildings that we turned on, so that would darn sure slow it down if it did get here.”
In the end, the Van Newkirks lost about a third of their summer range to the fire. Fortunately, there were no cattle on it at the time, and the majority of the historic 1892 ranch was spared. Other ranchers in the area, Van Newkirk said, have not been so fortunate.
“It was a total catastrophe for a lot of ranches north of Oshkosh, for sure,” Van Newkirk said. “It just moved so fast. It was just totally devastating to those people that were at the head of the fire because once it started, they had absolutely no time to get cattle out of the way, or get >hay out of the way, or even try to head the fire away from them.”
The key factor to the Morrill Fire’s devastation is the high-speed, multidirectional winds that have guided it effortlessly across the prairie, catching those in its path completely off-guard.
“(With) 70 mile-an-hour wind, I think (the fire) went 60 miles in probably 18 hours,” Van Newkirk said. “So, that just did not give anybody enough time.”
Van Newkirk said that the fire’s speed hasn’t been the only uniquely destructive thing about it.
“This was all on privately-owned ground,” Van Newkirk said. “A lot of those other big great range fires are on Forest Service or BLM or something like that, that the government owns, but this was all owned by taxpayers. We’re living on it. That really needs to be stressed, because a lot of livings were hampered by this. I mean, if they lost their hay and their pasture, they need relief immediately – and they’re getting it.”
In response to the fire, Van Newkirk said that the tightknit web of rural communities have come together to offer extra hay, fencing supplies, and other necessities to those affected by the blaze over the weekend.
“We’ve had several calls, people wanting to bring hay,” Van Newkirk said Monday. “I think there was five loads on the way today (headed to) different ranches.”
The immediacy of the support neighboring communities have shown to each other has been a guiding light in the face of tough times ahead.
“The other night, we took some tables and chairs up to the fire hall, and there were probably two or three dozen people there, townspeople, and they were receiving food, water, Gatorade,” Van Newkirk said. “There was a bushel basket full of Chapstick there for these firefighters. I mean, everybody just kind of pulled together. It was really nice to see, it really was.”
The selfless support doesn’t end with donations — Van Newkirk emphasized the heroism of volunteer firefighters from all over the state, and even neighboring states, who have been arriving each day to help protect the far flung community.
“There are a slug of firefighters in the county from all over the country,” Van Newkirk said. “I mean, every town I saw, from Omaha to Lincoln, Hastings. Rocky Ford, Colorado, I saw a firetruck go by this morning. I mean, it’s just amazing how the firefighters (assemble) when they’re serious about this, and God bless them, because they’re all volunteers.”
Right now, most of Van Newkirk’s neighbors and community members are out of immediate danger, he said. Though everyone is still holding their breath for the next big outbreak.
“If the wind would happen to come up 70 miles an hour again, no doubt there are some parts of that fire that are still smoldering, and that’s the clinker right there,” Van Newkirk said. “These cow chips, they can smolder for days. … That’s probably the main concern.”
With the Panhandle weather forecast for Tuesday, the ranching and firefighting community continued to be wary. The National Weather Service in Cheyenne has issued an alert that critical fire conditions exist and the area is under a fire weather watch through Saturday. A Red Flag warning is in effect for portions of southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska through 8 p.m. Tuesday. A High Wind warning is in effect through midnight
Exhausted and overwhelmed, Van Newkirk said that all his community can do is stay alert, give what they can and hope for a reprieve.
“These volunteer fire departments are pretty hard to replace. They’re getting tired, too,” Van Newkirk said. “It sounds like a good foot of snow would do us more good than anything right now.”
