An estimated 10,000 acres of rolling hills and farm land was burned on Thursday, October, 18^th, by a fire which sparked one mile north of mile marker 138 on Interstate 80.  According to the report compiled by Pete Peterson, Keith County Emergency Manager, a total of 37 departments were involved in mutual aid.

The fire was first reported at 1:10 PM, north of I-80. Strong winds caused the fire to spread south east eventually crossing I-80, burning 12 miles southeast which left areas as large as 1.5 miles wide burnt and blackened. The flames burned 1.5 miles into Perkins County. After two hour of burning, responding units were able to begin containing the rapidly spreading fire, mostly containing the fire after a 10 hour fight near 11:00PM, Central Time.

Evacuation notices were announced for the east edge of Paxton, to the west edge of County Road East P, to the north edge of I-80 and the south edge of Keith/Perkins County line.

According to the fire report, three firefighters developed eye problems and one of the three was treated for an “unknown illness.” All three firefighter were treated by a physician. No citizens were injured from the fire.

The report explains that at-least  11 structures were consumed by the flames,

“Two Occupied homes completely destroyed (Welch-651 Co Rd East N, Orr-1691 Co Rd East 40); One abandoned/unoccupied home (1880 Co Rd East 20). Various outbuildings destroyed; 2 at 390 Co Rd East Q, 3 at 210 Co Rd East Q, 1 at 1681 Co Rd East 50, 1 at 1880 Co Rd East 20 and 1 at 651 Co Rd East N. Several pieces of farm implements were also destroyed in the burned area; as were several power poles and damage to one county road culvert in the 1700 mile of Co Rd East Q.”

Units monitored the areas overnight. Keith County Fire Department is expected to respond to any other activities in relation to that incident.

According to a family member of a structure burned in the fire, the flames damaged some responding vehicles being used to fight the fire, wheels on some vehicles apparently melted while on scene.

Members from the North Platte Jaycees and local citizens organized around 5 to help bring sustenance to responding units.

The American Red Cross provided care for firefighter and provided lodging for a displaced family.

A local disaster declaration is planned to be signed by Keith County Board Chairman, Rex Christensen, because the incident wasn’t able to be handled locally. The Governor’s Emergency Fund may reimburse expenses if a local disaster declaration is signed.

All Information from the fire report originated from IC and responders Kyle Gartrell, Incident Commander at Paxton Fire Department and Ralph Moul, Keystone-Lemoyne Fire Chief.

Mutual Aid Involved:

American Red Cross, Arthur Fire Department, Benkelman Fire Department, Brule Fire Department, Culbertson Fire Department, Elsie Fire Department, Grant Fire Department, Hayes Center Fire Department, Hershey Fire Department, Hi-Line CO-OP, Hyannis Fire Department, Imperial Fire Department, Indianola Fire Department, Keith County Sheriff, Keith County Emergency Management, Keith County Roads Department, Keystone-Lemoyne Fire Department, Lamar Fire Department, Madrid Fire Department, Mullen Fire Department, Nebraska State Patrol, Nebraska Fire Marshal’s Office, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, North Platte Fire Department (Paid & Volunteer), Ogallala Fire Department, Paxton Fire Department, Red Willow West Fire Department, Sapp Brothers, Stapleton Fire Department, Sutherland Fire Department, Trenton Fire Department, Tryon Fire Department, Venango Fire Department, Wallace Fire Department, Wauneta Fire Department, Wellfleet Fire Department and other equipment yet to be identified.

On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released the Winter 2012/2013 Outlook. The outlook is a three month forecast which explains that dryer-than-average conditions are expected in Nebraska. Areas impacted by the drought are believed to experience no relief this winter.

Signs indicating that an El Niño was developing had suddenly vanished, forecasters from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center say this year’s prediction was a challenge and the winter forecast is more uncertain than in the past year due to vanishing signs of the developing El Niño.

According to the NOAA, “When El Niño is present, warmer ocean water in the equatorial Pacific shifts the patterns of tropical rainfall that in turn influence the strength and position of the jetstream and storms over the Pacific Ocean and United States. This climate pattern gives seasonal forecasters confidence in how the U.S. winter will unfold. An El Niño watch remains in effect because there’s still a window for it to emerge.”

Forecasters with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center say a wavering El Niño, expected to have developed by now, makes this year’s winter outlook less certain than previous years.

Though dryer-than-average conditions are expected, snowfall accumulations and winter storm predictions aren’t reflected in the outlook because factors like snowfall cannot be predicted more than a week in advance.

A forecast has been developed for North Platte’s climate in the coming months which shows temperatures dropping in November and December.