One day after firefighters began gaining control of at least one large wildfire in Nebraska, two more are now raging across the panhandle.
The Nebraska State Patrol has closed some roads and highways in northwest Nebraska as the wildfires have grown, sending thick black smoke across the area.
The Nebraska fires are near Harrison in the northwestern corner of the panhandle. Several other wildfires continue to burn in that same area near Chadron.
Hundreds of firefighters from Colorado have responded to requests for help in that region.
The fires are beginning to take a toll on the nation's firefighting resources.
The national interagency fire center said the list of available crews is nearly exhausted. West Metro fire, for example, has a crew of three on the ground in Nebraska right now.
This is one of 16 departments from Colorado assisting on fires burning throughout the country.
"We have firefighters from everywhere here," said Loree McNeill of Chadron state college.
Mcneill said the college is housing and feeding hundreds of firefighters.
"When the fire crested over that hill, I don't think it took 15 minutes to go down the hill," said McNeill.
A trench dug around the campus by firefighters and staff members saved the college.
"It's very dry. It was in the hundreds everyday while we were working," said David Waller of North Metro fire.
Waller spent 14 days fighting the thorn-divide complex fire in Wyoming near Devil's Tower.
"It was a combination of ranch and grasslands interfacing with forest," said Waller.
Fires from South Dakota to California are taxing resources. Right now, the national fire preparedness level is at five, the highest it can be. The Rocky Mountain region is at four.
The residents of Chadron were ordered to drastically cut back on their water usage. The city's water system is being used to fill the tankers and the helicopters that are fighting the fires.
Around 120 square miles burned in Nebraska. The fires have destroyed at least four homes. It is estimated that 1,500 firefighters on fighting the fires.
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