Mccook fire
- Thread starter 21Husker1984
- Start date
Hearing wildfire on the north side of town. We have 60+ mph north winds down in this part of the state today.
Open the valve on the water tower. Seriously, hope everything turns out well and thanks for sharing
Used to be on a volunteer fire department had several of those type of wild land fires there nasty tractors and disks seen to work the best if you can stay ahead of it or if it's farm ground, its probably to windy to have a Ariel tanker drop fire retardant
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anon_umk0ifu6vj6zi
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I had heard someone was a fire victim. Uggg. Makes my heart hurt. Used to visit the burn unit at St.E's frequently through a foundation I had a part of. Such pain and suffering they go through, if they are "lucky" enough to survive.
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I was a volunteer fireman also. Saw a tractor get engulfed in fire when the oxygen was choked off by the fire. Not so pretty.
A friend's FB post from last night about the fire:
Today at work, I got to watch something both amazing and heartbreaking. A large fire started north of McCook, and due to high winds was quickly spreading through open fields and canyons towards the city. Mutual aid was requested to battle the fires, while every law enforcement agency available began evacuating people from their homes. When I say this, I truly mean it, everybody and their mom showed up. People came from as far as Kansas and North Platte, which is over seventy miles away to save a little town in the middle of nowhere. People pulled up in droves to donate water or help. In the wake of something crappy, it was a sight to see, to watch all these people come together for a greater good.
Today at work, I got to watch something both amazing and heartbreaking. A large fire started north of McCook, and due to high winds was quickly spreading through open fields and canyons towards the city. Mutual aid was requested to battle the fires, while every law enforcement agency available began evacuating people from their homes. When I say this, I truly mean it, everybody and their mom showed up. People came from as far as Kansas and North Platte, which is over seventy miles away to save a little town in the middle of nowhere. People pulled up in droves to donate water or help. In the wake of something crappy, it was a sight to see, to watch all these people come together for a greater good.
That's the great part of living in the Great Plains people pulling together to help someone they don't even know
They treated 16 people for burns or smoke inhalation. 1 house burned to the ground and 1 person seriously burned. It was bad but could have been much worse if not for the hard work of 11 volunteer fire departments plus the McCook Fire Department.
I heard the burn victim was homeless and was down in a canyon in the pasture during the fire. He came running up the hill towards people with his bottom half naked from his pants burning off of him.
Not good at all if true.
The day after the fire, a couple of kids (8th and 9th grade) from Wauneta tried starting a fire in the school bathroom.
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From the McCook Gazette:
The fire has been blamed ultimately on the 60-70-mile-an-hour winds that blew through Southwest Nebraska Monday and Tuesday. Sheriff Alan Kotschwar said early this morning that Nebraska fire marshal Ryan Sylvester and Red Willow Western rural fire chief Bill Elliot have determined that the wind blew loose a piece of metal roofing on a small shed in a farmstead north of McCook along Highway 83 and the metal sheeting rubbed through the insulation of an electrical wire. The exposed wire arced, threw sparks and caught dry grass on fire. In the high wind, the fire quickly turned wild and blew toward McCook.
The man, believed to be a transient and living in a shelter in the canyon, was burned, transported by McCook ambulance to Community Hospital and then flown to a Lincoln hospital for treatment. City of McCook fire chief Marc Harpham said this morning he is not aware of the severity of the man's injuries.
Elmer Frick, a McCook Gazette driver, said he believes he spotted the fire as it started and warned the farmstead residents as flames started crawling toward Pet Pros. When the driver looked south from the Pearson Addition on Highway 83 a few minutes later, smoke was beginning to fill the skyline, he said,
The fire has been blamed ultimately on the 60-70-mile-an-hour winds that blew through Southwest Nebraska Monday and Tuesday. Sheriff Alan Kotschwar said early this morning that Nebraska fire marshal Ryan Sylvester and Red Willow Western rural fire chief Bill Elliot have determined that the wind blew loose a piece of metal roofing on a small shed in a farmstead north of McCook along Highway 83 and the metal sheeting rubbed through the insulation of an electrical wire. The exposed wire arced, threw sparks and caught dry grass on fire. In the high wind, the fire quickly turned wild and blew toward McCook.
The man, believed to be a transient and living in a shelter in the canyon, was burned, transported by McCook ambulance to Community Hospital and then flown to a Lincoln hospital for treatment. City of McCook fire chief Marc Harpham said this morning he is not aware of the severity of the man's injuries.
Elmer Frick, a McCook Gazette driver, said he believes he spotted the fire as it started and warned the farmstead residents as flames started crawling toward Pet Pros. When the driver looked south from the Pearson Addition on Highway 83 a few minutes later, smoke was beginning to fill the skyline, he said,
