Update 6pm: Incident Commander and Alliance fire chief Troy Shoemaker says a large variety of assets have been deployed against a grass fire burning in southwestern Box Butte and northeastern Morrill Counties Tuesday.
Shoemaker says departments from throughout Scotts Bluff and Morrill counties with Type 2 wildland fire engines and water tenders responded in addition to units from both the northern and southern Panhandle.
He said an aerial applicator from Grant arrived to help make water drops on the flames, and a large air tanker was requested out of Colorado.
As of 6:00 p.m., flames had been pushing in the direction of Angora, but to his knowledge no structures had been lost.
Shoemaker said the origin had yet to be officially determined, but downed power lines or a dry lightning strike the previous night were potential causes.
————————–
Firefighters from at least five regional departments have been spending much of Tuesday fighting a large fire that started earlier in the morning in Box Butte County.
Shortly before noon, KNEB News observed firefighters and equipment from Hemingford Rural, Alliance Rural, Bayard and Bridgeport on scene in the sandhills more than 17 miles west-southwest of Alliance, and was aware of a call for mutual aid to the Minatare/Melbeta department.
Region 23 Emergency Manager Nan Gould says she understood the blaze started around 9 a.m., and as of noon was estimated to be about 500 acres.
It did not appear that any structures were immediately threatened, however, the flames were being wind-driven to the southeast, and started to move toward some homesteads.
A origin of the fire has yet to be released, but dry lightning from storms the night before was suspected as a potential cause.
