Beginning March 12, 2026 western and central Nebraska [mainly in the sandhills and panhandle regions] experienced rapid waves of wildfires, including a wildfire so huge it would be deemed the largest wildfire in state history.

The first of the many wildfires ignited in Morrill county; within 12 hours high winds propelled the flames approximately 70 miles across the prairie. After 24 hours the Morrill fire had already burned more than 450,000 acres. After being active for around two weeks, the fire was considered 100 percent contained. Within that time period, the fire had burned a total of 642,029 acres across Morrill, Garden, Grant, Arthur and Keith county.

Alongside the Morrill fire, there were also the Cottonwood, Road 203 and Anderson Bridge fires. The Cottonwood fire burned over 100,000 acres in Dawson county [near Gothenburg], the Road 203 fire burned more than 40,000 acres in Blaine and Thomas counties [near Halsey Village] and the Anderson Bridge fire burnt 17,000 acres in Cherry county. It would not be until the end of March that these fires would be 100 percent contained.

After those fires, two more fires broke out in Grant County, the Ashby and Minor fires. The two fires burned over 50,000 acres and were not fully contained until the beginning of April.

In total, Nebraska had lost 900,000 acres of land; farmland, ranchland and municipality. Nebraska has support from neighboring states, the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) is offering mental health support after the fires, and farmers and ranch owners can file under the USDA for disaster assistance.