Breaking News - Page Fire
A massive grass fire broke out at the corner of four counties, making it a danger for a lot of people who needed information fast for evacuations. Our initial social media coverage reached 1.5 million people during the active portion of the fire. Antelope County only has 6,500 households. The reach was incredible and really got the word out for not only safety but for assistance as well.
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Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Fire Is Testament To Nebraska Way Of Life
When Gary Johnson walked out the door, he could see smoke. As he drove over the hill, the Page rancher knew they needed as much help as possible.
“It was horrifying,” Johnson said. “The flames were moving probably 30 mph. The smoke was blinding. It’s the first time I’d even seen this big of a fire, and I never want to see anything like it again.”
More than a dozen departments responded to the grass fire north of Page near the Holt, Knox and Antelope county lines on Sunday afternoon. Dozens of farmers with tractors and discs assisted. Area landowners started irrigation systems, and several crop dusters dropped water to aid in the fight as 5,000 acres burned.
“If it wasn’t for friends, neighbors, farmers and people, I don’t even know what we would have done,” Johnson said. “Some people came 15 or 20 miles with their tractors. It’s a testament to the Nebraska way of life. It was neighbors helping neighbors.”
As Johnson went to start fighting the fire in Holt County, Gina Thomson called in the blaze and indicated mutual aid would be needed immediately. Not far away in Knox County, Darren Wickersham was putting horses away after working cattle when he noticed smoke to the southwest and made a similar phone call to report the fire.
But Wickersham didn’t know the fire would soon shift and he’d be among those asked to evacuate. The fire originally was moving northwest, but the wind switched to the northeast. It went through 2 1/2 miles of irrigated cornfield before it hit pastureland and took off to the northwest.
“When it was straight west of me, the wind switched and acted like it was going to burn back to the east,” Wickersham said. “That’s when they told me and our neighbors to get our stuff in order. I had a guy sitting across the road, and I told him, ‘Tell me when I’ve got 10 minutes.’ ”
Wickersham moved his horses to Orchard. They packed some clothes and removed family heirlooms and important papers from their house as a precaution. The family never officially evacuated, but they were ready to leave.
“The fire department stopped it about a mile, maybe three-quarters of a mile from our house,” Wickersham said. “There were probably a dozen or more departments out there with this fire. It really took a lot of people to stop the fire. I can’t say enough for all of the volunteers.”
It was about 3:15 p.m. when Thomson called the fire in on Sunday. It’s unclear who the first person was to make the call, but the Page Volunteer Fire Department was the initial department called. Page Fire Chief Heath Wilson was the first on scene in a grass rig and drove immediately north toward Highway 59.
“I was headed down a minimum maintenance road trying to find the fire, and there was a wall of trees on both sides with flames that were 50 or 60 feet in the air,” he said. “We had to hurry up and scramble because we about got surrounded by fire.”
Wilson said he requested mutual aid before he even saw the flames. Page had every truck in the fleet headed that way, but he knew it wasn’t enough.
“When it was all said and done, we had 14 departments there. That’s the only reason we were able to keep it under control,” he said. “Everyone was working together. I don’t know what we would have done without the tractors and discs and the crop dusters. They were vital to stopping the fire.”
Within minutes of spotting the fire, Johnson hooked up a tractor to a disc as fire raced across the cornfield. He took out corner posts with his pickup to fit disks through the pasture gates as his sons and brother were discing and starting irrigation systems. There were times Johnson was forced to drive through fences to get out of the way of the fire.
“The fire went across the cornfield so fast. The flames jumped the disc tracks. Until it got into pastureland, it was very uncontrollable,” he said.
As his son, David, drove through the flames, Johnson said his son could feel the heat of the fire inside the tractor. Johnson said his family went into immediate action because everyone needed to help. But as a parent, he was concerned about his son.
“It was horrifying to watch,” he said. “I was in radio contact with him, but the vision was bad enough I didn’t want to stay in constant contact.”
Fire departments from four counties showed up to help Page. From Antelope, Orchard, Royal, Neligh, Clearwater and Brunswick were there. From Holt, Ewing, O’Neill, Atkinson and Stuart assisted. Knox County sent Verdigre, Niobrara and Creighton firefighters. Lynch came down from Boyd to assist. The NRD helped fill tanks, as did others.
Only about 30 acres burned in Page’s district. The other 5,000 acres were in the Verdigre district. Although Page was called first, Wilson said the fire actually started in Verdigre’s district. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Wilson said he immediately found where it started and reported his findings.
Wilson said it was so hot, windy and smoky that it was hard to see. At one point, the fire was five miles long and 1½ miles wide. The biggest help, he said, was having reinforcement from the air and farmers discing the ground. While some families were evacuated, no house structures were damaged.
Both Johnson and Wickersham said stopping the fire short of the Verdigre blacktop was key. Without that stop, the fire would have moved into more difficult terrain.
“Then we would have been in real trouble,” Wickersham said.
The fire ended up a mile from where Johnson was raised. That homestead and livestock were in danger. Johnson said he and others were prepared to cut fences to save cattle, but it never came to that.
There have been plenty of hot spots to watch. Firefighters split time Sunday night and most of Monday watching the scene. On Tuesday afternoon, Page, Orchard and Royal were called back due to flames in a shelterbelt, according to Royal chief Gary Ober.
Johnson said he can’t thank the firefighters and volunteers enough for their support. Wilson shared the sentiment and also thanked those who provided food and water to the firefighters.
“It’s amazing that all these people showed up,” Johnson said. “I’m so thankful for them. We’ll have to be careful for weeks due to hotspots. Pray for rain.”
“It was horrifying,” Johnson said. “The flames were moving probably 30 mph. The smoke was blinding. It’s the first time I’d even seen this big of a fire, and I never want to see anything like it again.”
More than a dozen departments responded to the grass fire north of Page near the Holt, Knox and Antelope county lines on Sunday afternoon. Dozens of farmers with tractors and discs assisted. Area landowners started irrigation systems, and several crop dusters dropped water to aid in the fight as 5,000 acres burned.
“If it wasn’t for friends, neighbors, farmers and people, I don’t even know what we would have done,” Johnson said. “Some people came 15 or 20 miles with their tractors. It’s a testament to the Nebraska way of life. It was neighbors helping neighbors.”
As Johnson went to start fighting the fire in Holt County, Gina Thomson called in the blaze and indicated mutual aid would be needed immediately. Not far away in Knox County, Darren Wickersham was putting horses away after working cattle when he noticed smoke to the southwest and made a similar phone call to report the fire.
But Wickersham didn’t know the fire would soon shift and he’d be among those asked to evacuate. The fire originally was moving northwest, but the wind switched to the northeast. It went through 2 1/2 miles of irrigated cornfield before it hit pastureland and took off to the northwest.
“When it was straight west of me, the wind switched and acted like it was going to burn back to the east,” Wickersham said. “That’s when they told me and our neighbors to get our stuff in order. I had a guy sitting across the road, and I told him, ‘Tell me when I’ve got 10 minutes.’ ”
Wickersham moved his horses to Orchard. They packed some clothes and removed family heirlooms and important papers from their house as a precaution. The family never officially evacuated, but they were ready to leave.
“The fire department stopped it about a mile, maybe three-quarters of a mile from our house,” Wickersham said. “There were probably a dozen or more departments out there with this fire. It really took a lot of people to stop the fire. I can’t say enough for all of the volunteers.”
It was about 3:15 p.m. when Thomson called the fire in on Sunday. It’s unclear who the first person was to make the call, but the Page Volunteer Fire Department was the initial department called. Page Fire Chief Heath Wilson was the first on scene in a grass rig and drove immediately north toward Highway 59.
“I was headed down a minimum maintenance road trying to find the fire, and there was a wall of trees on both sides with flames that were 50 or 60 feet in the air,” he said. “We had to hurry up and scramble because we about got surrounded by fire.”
Wilson said he requested mutual aid before he even saw the flames. Page had every truck in the fleet headed that way, but he knew it wasn’t enough.
“When it was all said and done, we had 14 departments there. That’s the only reason we were able to keep it under control,” he said. “Everyone was working together. I don’t know what we would have done without the tractors and discs and the crop dusters. They were vital to stopping the fire.”
Within minutes of spotting the fire, Johnson hooked up a tractor to a disc as fire raced across the cornfield. He took out corner posts with his pickup to fit disks through the pasture gates as his sons and brother were discing and starting irrigation systems. There were times Johnson was forced to drive through fences to get out of the way of the fire.
“The fire went across the cornfield so fast. The flames jumped the disc tracks. Until it got into pastureland, it was very uncontrollable,” he said.
As his son, David, drove through the flames, Johnson said his son could feel the heat of the fire inside the tractor. Johnson said his family went into immediate action because everyone needed to help. But as a parent, he was concerned about his son.
“It was horrifying to watch,” he said. “I was in radio contact with him, but the vision was bad enough I didn’t want to stay in constant contact.”
Fire departments from four counties showed up to help Page. From Antelope, Orchard, Royal, Neligh, Clearwater and Brunswick were there. From Holt, Ewing, O’Neill, Atkinson and Stuart assisted. Knox County sent Verdigre, Niobrara and Creighton firefighters. Lynch came down from Boyd to assist. The NRD helped fill tanks, as did others.
Only about 30 acres burned in Page’s district. The other 5,000 acres were in the Verdigre district. Although Page was called first, Wilson said the fire actually started in Verdigre’s district. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Wilson said he immediately found where it started and reported his findings.
Wilson said it was so hot, windy and smoky that it was hard to see. At one point, the fire was five miles long and 1½ miles wide. The biggest help, he said, was having reinforcement from the air and farmers discing the ground. While some families were evacuated, no house structures were damaged.
Both Johnson and Wickersham said stopping the fire short of the Verdigre blacktop was key. Without that stop, the fire would have moved into more difficult terrain.
“Then we would have been in real trouble,” Wickersham said.
The fire ended up a mile from where Johnson was raised. That homestead and livestock were in danger. Johnson said he and others were prepared to cut fences to save cattle, but it never came to that.
There have been plenty of hot spots to watch. Firefighters split time Sunday night and most of Monday watching the scene. On Tuesday afternoon, Page, Orchard and Royal were called back due to flames in a shelterbelt, according to Royal chief Gary Ober.
Johnson said he can’t thank the firefighters and volunteers enough for their support. Wilson shared the sentiment and also thanked those who provided food and water to the firefighters.
“It’s amazing that all these people showed up,” Johnson said. “I’m so thankful for them. We’ll have to be careful for weeks due to hotspots. Pray for rain.”
