Fire danger high in Western Nebraska

On Thursday, the wildland fire danger level in Cheyenne County – and all of its neighboring counties – was “extreme,” according to the Nebraska Forest Service.

Throughout the week, the potential for wildland fires in Western Nebraska has remained elevated.

Don Westover, rural fire protection program leader for the state forest service, said the rating takes into account the ignitability of fuel – which is often grass, in this region – and weather.

“As we know, Nebraska is a windy state,” he said. “And once ignited, that fire is going to take off. So ‘very high’ or ‘extreme’ means that it will ignite really easily and spread really rapidly.”

There has already been some fire activity in this part of the state this year.

“It’s just an indication that there’s a good correlation between fire danger and fire activity,” he said. “And we know that, we’ve known that for a number of years, that’s why we put the map out.”

Twice a day, the Nebraska Forest Service updates an online map evaluating the fire danger in every county throughout the state.

“It’s basically to help people from making mistakes,” Westover said.

Heightened wildland fire danger is a seasonal occurrence, he added.

“Most of our fuels are grass, and the grass essentially cures over the winter time,” Westover explained. “There’s not greenness to it – it essentially dies back into the ground.”

Eventually, as rain falls and temperatures warm, it will start to green.

“But that hasn’t happened yet, especially in areas of warm-season grasses, because we need warm days for warm-season grass to warm up.”

The change in seasons will eventually allow the fire danger to temporarily subside, but for now, we’re going to see days at high risk.

Although it can very each year, April rains typically bring grass back to life by May.

“And in June, things are very green,” Westover said. “And then almost as regular as clock work, the first of July, we start to get a lot of lightning storms and, in an average year, the greenness has started to decline then.”

In a year without much moisture, July through September can see many wildland fires.

“That’s the whole reason for putting the map up there,” he added. “We’re hoping to give people more information so they can consciously make decisions that will put them on the safe side of things.”

Burning trash piles and moving hay can be dangerous activities, depending on the conditions.

“People would be smart, I think, to take a look at this map on a daily basis if they’re considering any of those sorts of activities,” Westover said. “Quite often, you can delay something for a couple of days until the fire danger is a little lower. And do it safely.”

More information on ways to minimize the risk of wildland fires, and the state fire danger map, can be found at http://nfs.unl.edu/wildland-fire-protection.