RIVERDALE — A large wildfire occurred north of Riverdale during the afternoon hours of Saturday, March 22, all while a Red Flag Warning was in place due to critical fire weather conditions
Around 2 p.m., the Kearney Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to Dove Hill Road north of Riverdale for the reports of flames in a tree line, east of a property.
The fire occurred during a Red Flag Warning, which was in effect from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday.
There were low relative humidity values in the 20 percent range and strong winds out of the southwest that were blowing 15 to 25 mph constantly with 40 mph gusts, according to the National Weather Service – Hastings.
Any fire that broke out had the ability to spread quickly and exhibit extreme fire behavior.
On scene, the fire began to move north rapidly through the fields and began jumping the roads into adjacent fields. The fire began to shift northeast due to the strong southwesterly wind gusts.
From a distance, a pall of gray and brown smoke rose from the scene.
Mutual aid was called for initially from Amhsert, Pleasanton Ravenna and several others. Central Nebraska Today.com noted Holdrege and Minden fire departments on scene as well.
Many area farmers also arrived on scene with tractors and discs to help create fire barriers to keep the fire contained to where it had burned previously.
There were structure fires reported along the fire’s path. Any details about the extent of the damage, areas burned or injuries was not available on scene.
At 2:22 p.m., there was a second Kearney fire call for a brush fire near the 3000 block of Sartoria Road, which was dispatched to Elm Creek. This fire occurred in pasture land and had not grown to the size of the initial fire north of Riverdale.
This is a developing story, check back at Central Nebraska Today.com as more details become available.
A panoramic photo of the wildfire in progress north of Riverdale, looking to the west and northwest, (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today)
