Wildfires burning across western Nebraska have grown to sizes never before recorded in the state’s modern history.
As of 10:30 p.m., officials report the Morrill Fire has burned 548,993 acres, while the Cottonwood Fire has grown to more than 100,000 acres.
Authorities say the Morrill Fire began Thursday when a power pole went down near Angora, Nebraska. Fueled by extremely dry conditions and strong winds, the fire spread rapidly across rangeland in the Nebraska Panhandle and Sandhills region.
The size of the Morrill Fire far exceeds any single wildfire previously recorded in Nebraska.
Before the current fires, one of the largest individual wildfires documented in the state was the Betty’s Way Fire in 2024, which burned roughly 71,000 acres in Lincoln, Dawson and Custer counties.
That means the Morrill Fire has already burned nearly half a million acres more than what had previously been considered one of Nebraska’s largest modern wildfires.
Nebraska has experienced major wildfire seasons before, particularly during drought years such as 2012, when multiple fires combined to burn more than 500,000 acres statewide. However, those totals were spread across numerous fires rather than a single blaze.
With the Morrill Fire now approaching 550,000 acres, it stands as the largest single wildfire ever recorded in Nebraska, dwarfing previous fires in the state’s history.
Meanwhile, the Cottonwood Fire, which has surpassed 100,000 acres, has also grown larger than most historic Nebraska wildfires on its own.
Fire crews from across Nebraska and neighboring states continue working to contain the fires as dry conditions and strong winds remain a challenge.