Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen gets operational update on Western NE’s South Fork Fire

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) -Governor Jim Pillen has visited the site of the South Fork fire to get an operational update.

Pillen was on the ground where fire crews have been working to contain the South Fork fire, which began last Tuesday. Pillen sat down with KOTA Territory News and commended the work of volunteer firefighters and others working to put the fire out.

“When we flew over, you know the terrain is extraordinary, really, really grateful that we that we have, I think they’re called the hotshots from the Rocky Mountain Incident Command team, these are folks that are trained to fight fires in the most extreme, difficult circumstances,” said Pillen.

The governor credited those specialized hot crews with keeping the fire from growing more than it did. The South Fork Fire has presented challenges, with wind blowing the fire in all directions at different times. Firefighters initially focused on keeping the fire away from the community of Crawford and the historic Fort Robinson State Park. Governor Pillen says he’s been keeping an eye on Fort Robinson.

“It’s our Calvary, let’s just think about our two hundred and fifty years of freedom, freedom’s very expensive, and where would we be without the Calvary, the fort was the home of it, it’s pretty incredibly important,” said Pillen.

Pillen says he believes about 30 ranching families have been impacted by the fire. Pillen said Tuesday morning that about half of the roughly 40,000 acres burned were owned by ranchers. He says all of the ranches have so far been saved.

“There’s a couple of ranches where the strips were cut around them, firefighters fought the water, saved the hay, saved the carrels, saved the ranch homes and the barns, so that’s heroic stuff,” said Pillen.

Crews have lines around the entire fire, and continued to bolster those lines on Tuesday. Wednesdays strong winds are expected to present those lines with a test of their containment power.

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