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Photo by Jay Huff
Overlooking the burn from U.S. 83, facing northwest.
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Photo by Jay Huff
Looking toward North Platte. U.S. 83 is at right, and burned area to the west.
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Photo by Jay Huff
Firefighters at work.
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Five grass fires sprang up Friday afternoon near the University of Nebraska research farm on the south side of North Platte, emphasizing the dangerously dry conditions. Firefighters contained the fires to grassland. No state farm buildings were damaged. Several small fires were reported at 3:15 p.m., Battalion Chief Jason Trimble of the North Platte Fire Department said. Firefighters from all three North Platte fire stations plus several volunteers responded quickly, putting out the fire within about 45 minutes, Trimble said. A tanker arrived from Hershey along with two grass rigs from the Wallace fire district. Trimble said the cause is unknown and considered unintentional. It could have been caused by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 83 that somehow created sparks that caught in the grass. “It’s dry, dry,” he said. There were five fires, Trimble said. Two were not substantial. Another burned about five acres, and two others merged and burned 3-4 acres. The research farm was not damaged and there were no accidents on the highway, he said.
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