What could have been a tragedy for North Platte, especially residents in the northeast area of town, was averted thanks to a coordinated response by numerous agencies.

At around 2:15 p.m., on Monday, a fire near the nature trails on the northeast side of Cody Park was reported to the North Platte 911 Center.

Shortly thereafter, another caller reported a fire in the same area.

Within three minutes, the North Platte Fire Department, led by Chief Dennis Thompson, was on the scene and began coordinating a plan of attack.

According to Thompson, it was discovered that the fire was in an area, along the Platte River, that was not accessible by truck.  Thompson said this meant the only way to battle the fire was to get right up on it, on foot, and fight it from there.

“If you’ve ever been in the area of the nature trails, there’s a lot of vegetation, overgrowth and trees, so this was going to be a fire that was going to take a lot of equipment and manpower to reach,” Thompson said.

Increasingly strong winds only made the fire move faster and become more unpredictable.

Thompson said the primary concern initially, was to protect residences that were in danger of being impacted by the fire.  While there was never an official evacuation order, Thompson said residents that were close to the path of the fire were strongly encouraged to leave.

“We didn’t lose any structures that were inhabited, we did lose some auxiliary buildings, storage sheds and that sort of thing, but nobody was displaced from their homes on a permanent basis, ” said Thompson.

Thompson said the strong winds, along with the proximity of the fire to residences, prompted them to call for “mutual aid.”

The NPFD has an agreement with 11 other departments who support each other when assistance, in the form of equipment and personnel, is needed.

Thompson said six departments responded, bringing the total number of personnel on-scene to around 70.

Perhaps the biggest piece of the puzzle was assistance from aircraft.

Lincoln County Emergency Management Director, Brandon Myers, said two pilots responded to assist and played a vital role in fighting the fire.

According to Myers, Lincoln County Commissioner, Joe Hewgley, was contacted and a disaster declaration was issued for the County, which allowed them to utilize the North Platte Regional Airport and other resources.

Myers said the planes, one from Wallace and one from Broken Bow, were able to drop fire retardant on the fire and were essential in slowing the spread of the fire and in allowing firefighters to get the upper hand.

An air unit from the Nebraska State Patrol also relayed information on the fire to firefighters on the ground.

In the end, the fire burned approximately 110 acres, and no injuries were reported.

At one point, the fire did edge into Cody Park, but city officials say the animals in the park were never in any danger, and a plan was in place to protect them if necessary.

Highway 30, East 12th Street and the main lines of the Union Pacific Railroad were all shut down during the event.

While the fire was contained at around 9:00 p.m., Thompson said firefighters will remain on the scene for at least another 48 hours to monitor the area and extinguish any flare-ups.

Thompson said the response from the community was amazing, but not unexpected.

“Our community comes together on these types of things,” Thomson said. “We had a tremendous outpouring of people wanting to provide refreshments, food and anything they could to help.  We just know that’s going to happen out here and we appreciate everybody that offered to help.”

Assistance was also provided by the North Platte Police Department, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Nebraska State Patrol, American Red Cross, City of North Platte Employees and numerous other agencies.

The fire is being investigated by the Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s Office, and the cause has not yet been determined, nor has the financial cost to the city and county.

Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact local law enforcement.