Nebraska Is Fighting Four Major Wildfires — One Just Hit An Amish Community “In The Middle Of Nowhere”
While you might not know it given the prevalence of other news stories, the biggest wildfire in Nebraska history is currently raging, having claimed close to 600,000 acres since March 12th.
One report from yesterday says it continues to burn out of control. And it’s actually worse than that sounds – because in addition to the biggest-ever fire, a further three major wildfires are currently burning in the state as well.
They’ve started for different reasons – one due to an electrical fire, another due to a “federal burn”. But it sounds like dry, windy conditions have really exacerbated the problem, feeding the spread and creating major problems in multiple locations in the Cornhusker State.
Wildfire Hits The Amish
One of those fires is also affecting the state’s newest Amish community, one founded several years ago in “the middle of nowhere”.
I use that term to describe it in reference to the first post we did on this very remote Amish community as it was being started back in 2023.
The “middle of nowhere” in fact is very much somewhere, and that somewhere is Kilgore, Nebraska, in vast and sparsely-populated Cherry County.
Author Timothy Price shared his visit to this community, also referred to as the “Valentine Amish” after the name of a nearby town, in a post for us last autumn (“Visiting The Amish in “The Middle Of Nowhere”).
News Channel Nebraska reports on the situation and how it has impacted the Amish community:
VALENTINE, Neb. — A wildfire south of Kilgore has burned more than 16,000 acres and caused significant damage in the area, including the loss of a home, livestock and hay in an Amish community.
Officials say the Anderson Bridge Fire started Thursday afternoon after a power pole snapped during strong winds.
“The fire started right here. This is the power pole that snapped off,” said area landowner Mark Johnson.
High winds of up to 60 miles per hour contributed to the fire’s rapid spread. After realizing what was happening, Johnson swiftly sprung into action. His children were actually being minded at the time by his Amish neighbors:
Johnson quickly jumped into his side-by-side to warn neighbors and pick up his two young children, who were being watched by members of the nearby Amish community.
“Got to the first neighbor. It was already in their backyard. They were not home. I could not go any further because it had engulfed the road,” Johnson said.
Beyond that road was the Amish community.
If you’re wondering, a “side-by-side” is a type of off-road vehicle. I had never heard the term before, perhaps it’s regional.
Thankfully, all were okay in this case – but the fire left destruction behind:
“The boys were down there at the Amish’s. They took great care of them. They all got evacuated out of there. No loss of life,” Johnson said.
While no one was injured, the fire left a trail of destruction. Johnson said his closest neighbor’s home was damaged.
Inside the Amish community, a newly built house was destroyed, along with outbuildings and a cabin.
Members of the Amish community expressed their gratitude to the volunteer fire responders, and that they were grateful that they didn’t experience worse damage.
Living in a remote area, fire services are of course a different story than they are in urban areas – or even in other, more-populated rural areas, with extensive volunteer crews meaning that you’re never too far from a fire response team.
But it sounds like even in an expansive, thinly-people place like Cherry County, responders are close enough at hand to get on scene to provide help. Crews from “numerous departments” have been on the scene trying to contain the Anderson Bridge blaze.
And of course like with other volunteer crews, these are local people, with other full-time responsibilities, as Johnson explained: “They’re all busy. A bunch of them are probably calving, but they’re here.”
We focus on Amish news here, but of course these fires are affecting much more than just the Amish residents of Nebraska. To date, at least one person has lost her life due to the fires.
Prayers for the people involved and let’s hope conditions improve – that the winds die down, for one – and that they are able to get things under control sooner than later. And if you’d like to help, this article lists a number of ways to contribute to local fire relief.
Nebraska will keep battling these fires.
We have the resolve and grit to get through this — together. Resources and firefighting teams from across the state have been mobilized.
Please continue to pray for our firefighters on the frontline, the families whose lives are being… pic.twitter.com/2Nv296qdjQ
— Governor Jim Pillen (@TeamPillen) March 16, 2026
Side-by-side
Being an old fart, I still use the term UTV (utility terrain vehicle), but that term is rapidly disappearing in favor of side-by-side. A UTV is a scaled-down version of a pickup truck, while a ATV is a scaled-up version of a dirtbike.
Burnable areas, geoengineeringwatch video. Side by side isnt regional 🙂
to see whos dumping the accelerants, watch the gotthard tunnel ceremony video.
Nebraska wild fire
It’s over 800,000 acres and could hit a million acres before Friday. Sad to see so much burn but the drought in Nebraska the whole state is real and very concerning for those in the eastern part of the state.