Wildfire — Thomas, Nebraska

2022-10-02 to 2022-10-11 · Thomas, Nebraska

Event narrative

A fire initiated along a trail during the mid afternoon hours of October 2nd in north central portions of the Nebraska National Forest at Halsey. Aided by very strong southerly winds, the fire quickly spread to the north and north northwest consuming the Nebraska 4 H camp. At this camp, 18 buildings were destroyed including the main lodge. The fire then jumped the Middle Loup River and Nebraska highway 2 racing across several miles of open rangeland. One firefighter perished from a medical emergency while battling the fire. Approximately 200-250 different personnel battled this fire from the 2nd through the 11th. When the fire was fully extinguished, 19000 total acres had burned.

Wider weather episode

Fire 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. One death was attributed to the fire and much of the Nebraska 4H camp was consumed by the fire. The fire took over a week to fully extinguish and was out on October 11th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1060705. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.