Fire crews expect the Morrill Fire in western Nebraska to be fully contained by Monday after holding through extreme weather conditions over the weekend.
Rob Powell, Operations Section Chief for Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1, said remaining uncontained areas are expected to be secured by the end of the day Sunday.
“Tomorrow morning you’ll see this fire completely contained,” Powell said.
Crews reported some activity north of Oshkosh, where interior pockets of heat flared up due to dry fuels and recent weather conditions. However, Powell said those flare-ups did not threaten containment lines.
“We sent guys up there… actually no threat to the line,” he said.
Firefighters will continue to staff the fire with engines and personnel to patrol and ensure the fire remains within established control lines.
“We’re going to staff Morrill with a pretty good contingent… just to patrol and keep an eye on that,” Powell said.
Officials also confirmed containment lines held through recent extreme weather.
In addition to managing the Morrill Fire, crews have been assisting with new fires across the region. Task forces from the incident management team were deployed to help local departments in other Nebraska communities.
“Our guys last night mobilized, went down to McCook… worked all night, got that fire buttoned up,” Powell said.
Another crew was sent to eastern Nebraska to assist with a fire near Wahoo.
“As I told you, we were going to help the state of Nebraska wherever they needed help,” Powell said.
Officials say additional resources are being organized in anticipation of more fire starts as conditions remain volatile.
“We’re in the process now of putting another task force together,” Powell said.
While conditions have slightly improved, fire officials warn that hot, dry, and windy weather is expected to return later in the week, increasing fire risk.