Remembering the 2012 Niobrara River Valley Fires

Driving down the highway during the Region 24 Complex Fire was always interesting in not knowing if you were going to get where you were going to be turned back by emergency personnel stopping traffic due to the fire. The smoke from the fires could be seen for many miles.

When the smoke had settled, Fire Investigator Ryan Sylvester and Ainsworth Fire Chief Brad Fiala went to the scene of where the fire started with GPS coordinates from the National Weather Service and located the trees struck by lighting that started the fire. The coordinates took them to within 500 feet of where the lightning struck starting the largest fire in recent Nebraska history.

Ainsworth Fire Chief Brad Fiala (left) accepted this beautiful table made and designed by Ainsworth Firemen Lee Conroy (right). The table was made out of the tree that was struck by lighting that started the 2012 Niobrara River Valley Wildfires. The table is kept at the Fire Hall as a remembrance of the day that the whistle sounded and the aftermath that followed.