The huge Morrill Fire is still burning wildly through the western parts of Nebraska and it has so far consumed over 572,000 acres to qualify as the biggest wildfire in the history of the state. The fire began on Thursday in the northeast of Bridgeport in the Morrill County, and has since spread over extensive rangelands in the Nebraska Panhandle and the Sandhills areas.
The fire has expanded tremendously because of high winds and aridness and the updated perimeter data issued by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) and wildfire monitoring site Watch Duty show a fire that has expanded by a significant amount. The first impressions are that the fire might have started because of a downed power line in the middle of the high winds, though the reasons behind the downed power line have not been officially established yet.
The wild fire has mostly impacted Morrill County, Garden County, Arthur County, Keith County and some areas of Grant County. It has encroached north of lake McConaughy and has come near places like clear creek but in other parts the fires have not reached the north platte river.
Officials have reported that one person has lost his life in the wildfire. An 86-year-old woman, Rose White, died on Thursday as the fire swept across the area in Arthur County. The governor of Nebraska named Jim Pillen confirmed her death.
According to the accounts of family members, White was a very loving matriarch who was fond of family traditions. She also ensured that each year she invited family members to read the Christmas story in the family Bible and would even send birthday and holiday cards to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Her granddaughter-in-law recalls that White would even use her disposable camera to capture the moment and take photos by disconnecting the phone to maintain the same time when the reading was going on.
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