Halsey Forest fire grows to near 19,000 burned acres

    Members of the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department sent three firefighters to help battle the Bovee Fire that has burned acres in the Halsey National Forest in northwest Nebraska.
    An update Wednesday morning said the fire stood at 18,932 acres burned and was 56% contained, according to the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.
    Hundreds of acres within the national forest have been burned, in addition to privately-owned grassland on the fire’s north side.
    The SW Mutual Aid Strike Team, in which IVFD is a member, was activated Sunday night after the fire started that afternoon about 12:40 p.m., three miles south of Halsey.
    Imperial Fire Chief Doug Mitchell said firefighters Aaron Greene, Dustin Harris and Josh Moreno left shortly after an IVFD meeting Sunday night at the fire hall.
    They returned Monday night after joining the SW Strike Team on back-burning efforts at the scene.
    Nebraska Highway 2 was closed for a time between Thedford and Halsey, but was reopened Monday. All evacuations have been lifted, according to the incident management team report.
    The Wednesday report said the fire was human-caused and is under investigation.
    Numerous emergency responders in the region responded. On Wednesday, 219 personnel were working at the fire scene, according to Incident Commander Dan Dallas.
    On the local scene, the IVFD responded to a fire alarm at the Imperial Manor Monday night about 8:20 p.m.
    Mitchell said the department was checking fire hydrants at their monthly practice that evening. The alarm may have been related to that, he said.