"Fires Engulf Western Nebraska Wildlife Area, Sparking Evacuations"

"Emergency responders and law enforcement officials in Nebraska’s Scotts Bluff County urged residents to evacuate as they worked to contain a large fire engulfing a state wildlife management area in the western county.

The wildfire began in four separate sites in the Cedar Canyon Wildlife Management Area late Saturday, the region’s emergency management director, Tim Newman, told the Scottsbluff Star-Herald. The likely cause was lighting, but it was too early to confirm, he said.

Videos and photos circulating on social media appeared to show the sky covered in thick plumes of red smoke, as bales of hay burned on the side of a road south of Gering, the county seat."

Annabelle Timsit reports for the Washington Post July 31, 2022.

Source: Washington Post, 08/01/2022