Wildfire in Nebraska

Events

88

Deaths

5

Injuries

48

Damage

$73 million

• Wildfire in Nebraska, March 12 to 28, 20261 death · $19 million · 4 eventsFire initiated southeast of Angora Nebraska in eastern Morrill County during the afternoon hours of March 12th. Aided by west-northwest winds, gusting over 50 MPH, fire raced to the east-southeast.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, October 2 to 11, 20221 death · $3.0 million · 1 eventFire initiated in north central portions of the Nebraska National Forest during the afternoon of October 2nd. Aided by strong southerly winds and dry relative humidity, the fire quickly spread to the north and north northeast consuming around 19000 acres of timber and grassland.
• Wildfire and High Wind in Nebraska, March 6, 201817 injured · $1.0 million · 57 kt wind · 4 eventsHigh winds on the backside of an upper level storm system reached the ground in Hitchcock and Red Willow counties. The peak wind gust was 66 MPH at McCook. The high winds also fueled a wildfire which consumed a house on the north side of McCook.
• Wildfire and Dust Storm in Nebraska, April 22 to 29, 20221 death · 5 injured · 71 kt wind · 8 eventsA significant weather system impacted the High Plains throughout the day on April 22nd and into the early morning hours of April 23rd.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, December 19 to 23, 20241 death · $80,000 · 1 eventA range fire initiated during the afternoon hours of December 19th near Round Valley Road and 803. By the time the fire was extinguished on December 23rd, 2800 acres of mainly grassland was consumed. One indirect fatality was reported from the fire.
• Wildfire and High Wind in Nebraska, April 7 to 12, 20221 death · 2 injured · 59 kt wind · 26 eventsThis Thursday marked the second straight day of intense north-northwest winds across South Central Nebraska, but overall a bit worse than the previous day, as most of the daylight hours featured relentless sustained speeds commonly 30-45 MPH and frequent gusts 50-60 MPH (with…
• Wildfire in Nebraska, September 1 to 4, 20123 injured · $6.0 million · 1 eventLightning produced by high based thunderstorms ignited the Wellnitz Fire on August 29th. The fire burned over 77,159 acres of land, which included 44,159 acres in Nebraska.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, July 20 to 30, 20124 injured · $3.0 million · 3 eventsHigh based thunderstorms moved southeast July 20th to produce dry lightning that ignited a wildfire. The drought conditions were extreme that allowed brittle grass and timbers to create rapid fire growth in northwest Brown County.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, October 4 to 5, 2011$12 million · 2 eventsA fire began in Lincoln County when a combine ignited the fire while harvesting soybeans. A Red Flag Warning was in effect where strong winds helped spread the fire quickly and burning an estimated 40 square miles of acres that encompassed corn and soybean crops.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, October 18, 20126 injured · $1.2 million · 2 eventsA wildfire fanned by high winds caused a fire to quickly spread southeast, crossing Interstate 80 and then burning for an additional 12 miles southeast into northeast Perkins County. The wildfire reached up to 1.5 miles wide.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, March 12 to 27, 20261 injured · $7.4 million · 1 eventFire initially started approximately 5 miles southwest of Brady during the late afternoon hours of March 12th. Aided by strong west-northwest winds, the fire spread into far southeastern Lincoln and portions of western Dawson County.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, April 11 to 16, 20232 injured · $3.5 million · 3 eventsPersistent drought conditions, strong southerly winds and unseasonably hot temperatures in the 90s initiated three major fires across western and north central Nebraska in mid April. Major fires were reported in Cherry County, Custer and Blaine Counties and Garfield County.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, March 26 to 31, 2026$3.2 million · 2 eventsFire started during the late evening hours of March 26th approximately 2 miles north of Ashby. Strong northerly winds pushed the fire quickly to the south and south-southwest across western portions of Grant County.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, August 29 to 31, 20123 injured · $1.0 million · 1 eventLightning produced by high based thunderstorms ignited the Wellnitz Fire. The fire burned 77,159 acres of land, starting near 10 miles north of Hay Springs that spread to across the South Dakota border onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, February 26 to 29, 2024$2.2 million · 2 eventsTwo separate range fires developed on February 26th. The first was in Logan County and a second began in Lincoln County and ended in western Custer County.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, March 12 to 15, 2026$1.9 million · 1 eventA wildfire which started about 5 miles southwest of Brady in Lincoln County, spread rapidly east-southeast during the late afternoon and evening hours of March 12th.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, July 16 to 18, 2006$1.5 million · 1 event
• Wildfire in Nebraska, March 12 to 23, 2026$1.4 million · 1 eventFire started during the afternoon hours of March 12th approximately 9 miles south of Kilgore. This fire tracked east, then south due to a wind shift. By the time the fire was fully contained on the 23rd a total of 17,229 acres were consumed in the fire.
• Wildfire and High Wind in Nebraska, October 23 to 24, 2022$830,000 · 56 kt wind · 5 eventsThis Sunday afternoon-evening featured one of the most concerning fire weather setups of the fall 2022 season within South Central Nebraska, and unfortunately, it came to fruition in the form of several wind-driven wildfires, a couple of which were fairly sizable (several…
• Wildfire in Nebraska, October 17, 2012$650,000 · 1 eventOver the course of about four hours, 12 rural fire departments battled this large wildfire that originated in western Fillmore County approximately four miles southeast of Sutton.
• Wildfire and Damaging Wind in Nebraska, August 9 to 10, 2021$550,000 · 54 kt wind · 4 eventsDuring the late afternoon and evening hours, discrete supercells developed along a boundary stretching across the Colorado border, Northwest Kansas, and extreme Southwest Nebraska.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, March 26 to 31, 2026$517,000 · 1 eventFire initiated shortly after 1 AM MDT on March 26th, approximately 5 miles south of Hyannis. Aided by strong northerly winds, the fire raced south consuming approximately 14,082 acres of rangeland.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, April 21 to 30, 2025$500,000 · 1 eventFire initiated during the early afternoon hours of April 21 and was not totally contained until April 30. Approximately 24000 acres of grassland and timberland was consumed in the fire.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, April 21 to 23, 2026$449,000 · 2 eventsA fire at the Spike Box Ranch in southern Cherry County burned approximately 7,000 acres over the course of two days. A second fire in southern Cherry County burned approximately 2,500 acres.
• Wildfire in Nebraska, August 2 to 3, 2012$400,000 · 3 eventsThursday evening high based thunderstorms produced lightning that ignited four wildfires in Keith County and one in Arthur County.

Wildfire everywhereEvery kind of event in Nebraska

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24.