The fire crews of Nebraska have been forced to swap their fire engines for quad bikes to be able to quench fires in the manmade National Forest. The wildfire spread rapidly through the forest and is thought to have damaged an estimated 1,000 acres. This left fire crews having to deal with the area’s rugged and sandy terrain.
Late on Monday afternoon, fire fighters had managed to contain around 50 per cent of the fire in the National Park, according to a spokesman for the US Forest Service. This fire was only one of 11 fires reported following a dry lightning storm on Saturday at the Bessey Ranger District in Sandhills.
According to a district ranger for the Nebraska Forest Service, the high temperatures and strong winds combined to make fighting the fires particularly difficult for the teams. Crews found themselves struggling to reach the fires, which were only accessible through a series of gravel roads. The crews had no choice but to leave their trucks and use specialized ATVs. Some fire fighters walked alongside fires to try and keep them contained. Other crews were called in from agencies in Montana and South Dakota, and a crew also made their way to help from California.
District ranger Tim Buskirk said that the Sandhills region is very sandy, which makes it almost impossible for trucks to pass and there are obstacles such as tree stumps to avoid. He said that if the situation remained the same, even more fire engines and specialists were to be released.