12 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN June/July 2026 Tales From the Fire Morrill County and Cottonwood Fires Kick Off the Most Devastating Fire Season in Nebraska History TRESSA LAWRENCE | CONTRIBUTING WRITER PRODUCTION Whipping winds gusting to more than 70 miles per hour, humidity levels in the single digits and dry foliage left over from a droughty winter quickly created a recipe for the most disastrous series of wildfires to hit Nebraska. Nebraska’s Sandhills are no stranger to fire. Prescribed burning is often used as a tool for wildfire prevention or invasive species control, but the fires that swept across the plains starting March 12 were unlike anything local ranchers or firefighters had ever seen before. Morrill Fire The winds howled across Morrill County on March 12, gusting so hard they blew over multiple power poles, which is where this story is believed to have started. Although the cause of the fire was yet to be determined at the time of publication, it is assumed that when the poles toppled, sparks flew. A spark in a 70-mile-per-hour breeze can ignite into a much larger problem, fast. “The Beast,” as it has come to be known, ultimately resulted in Morrill, Garden, Keith, Arthur and Grant counties being set into a state of emergency, with multiple towns being evacuated. The international shorthand for fire weather is the 30-3030 Rule where relative humidity is below 30 percent, temperatures are above 30 degrees Celsius, or roughly 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind clocks in at more than 30 kilometers per hour, or roughly 18 miles per hour. When the fire was reported on March 12, the relative humidity in Morrill County was 19.6 percent, the temperature was 67 degrees Fahrenheit and the winds averaged 34 miles per hour, with gusts well over 70. Naomi and Cody Loomis own Double A Feeds in Bridgeport where Naomi was working. The fire started on the Dove Ranch, which is approximately 15 miles from the Loomis’ ranch. “My oldest son called me to let me know that a fire had started, and he just wanted me to be aware,” Naomi Loomis recalls. “About that time, I got another call from one of the neighbors to the south of us, giving me a heads-up about it. As soon as I was off the phone with them, my oldest, Cade, was calling me back to let me know that they were already calling for mutual aid and that I should head for home.” Cody and Cade went one direction to battle the fire, and after fueling up their ranch firefighting rig, Loomis and her twins, Reata and Ryder, headed out to do the same. “There’s no cell service up here, so I had no idea where Cody and Cade were,” Loomis says. “We were stuck on the south side of the fire. At that time, the fire was blowing through and started a big tree row alongside the main road The Cottonwood Fire burned more than 131,000 acres in Nebraska. Photo Courtesy of Jake Fairley.
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