Nebraska firefighters make progress on Road 702 Fire despite critical fire weather
As of Wednesday morning, 41,448 acres have burned with containment at 74% since the fire first broke out on April 22
Watch: Nebraska Army National Guard drops water on Road 702 Fire
Video captures the Nebraska Army National Guard dropping water on The Road 702 Fire near Cambridge. (Video: Staff Sgt Tony Brollini / NE National Guard)
CAMBRIDGE, Neb. – Firefighters continued to make progress on containing the Road 702 Fire despite critical fire weather on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday morning, 41,448 acres have burned with containment at 74% since the fire first broke out on April 22.
Elevated fire weather conditions are expected on Wednesday along with very warm temperatures and low relative humidity. The winds will be lighter than on previous days. Some moisture will begin streaming into the region late in the day with a slight chance of a thunderstorm after 6 p.m.
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On Tuesday, shifting winds and gusts 30–40 mph caused the fire to spot in two places outside the current perimeter, according to Dan Dallas, incident commander for Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team One.
"Due to good coordination between firefighters and local landowners supported by National Guard helicopters doing bucket drops, both spot fires were quickly caught and tied back into the main fire. There was no change in acreage on the fire from the previous day," Dallas said in a Wednesday morning update.
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As containment continues to increase on the Road 702 Fire, any additional resources will be sent home or reassigned to other incidents.
On Wednesday, firefighters will focus on the sections to the north and west of the uncontained fire edge that is south of U.S. Highway 6 located east of Bartley along the Republican River.
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Crews will continue to establish containment lines and cool down hot spots as heavy equipment removes any hazardous trees that pose a threat to firefighters.
Authorities said the portion of the Road 702 Fire to the east and south in Kansas has been contained. A finger of fire, south of Wilsonville, still contains several hot spots, In addition, there are still several areas of heat south of U.S. Highway 6 located west of Cambridge.
There are currently no evacuations on the Road 702 Fire.