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By Joe Edwards
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Residents of Farnam, Nebraska, have been advised to escape from a wildfire which is putting their homes at risk.
"Citizens in Farnam should evacuate immediately and drive east to Eustis and seek shelter. Frontier county officials will assist upon arrival," Dawson County Emergency Management said in a message relayed by the National Weather Service (NWS).
According to the agency, a wildfire in southwest Dawson County was expected to turn south with a wind shift by 10 p.m. Thursday, threatening the town.
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Crews continued battling a brush fire that began south of Maxwell on Thursday, prompting road closures and evacuation orders in several locations, according to local radio station KRVN.
Evacuation orders covered the Village of Farnam, the Jeffrey Lake area, homes two to three miles south of Gothenburg, as well as areas south of Tri City and east of Highway 47, as per the outlet.
Highway 47 was closed in both directions from the Gothenburg interchange to Highway 23, and officials asked the public to avoid the area to allow emergency access, KRVN reported.
Additional closures included Highway 23 between U.S. 83 near Maywood and U.S. 283 to Elwood on Thursday night, according to KNOP in North Platte.
KNOP reported that the North Platte Recreation Center and Brady School offered shelter options for displaced residents, and that Brady Public Schools canceled classes Friday due to the wildfire impacts on staff and families.
In southeast Lincoln County, fire spread along Cottonwood Road and South Government Pocket Road, with sustained winds near 31 miles per hour and gusts up to 44 miles per hour hampering containment, KNOP reported.
A live map from Watch Duty shows several fires burning across the state as of early Friday morning. These include at least two vegetation fires as well as the Anderson Bridge fire in Cherry County and the Road 203 fire in Thomas and Blaine Counties.
As of early Friday, a red flag warning from the NWS is in place for Kimball, Banner, Scotts Bluff, Cheyenne, and portions of Sioux and Morrill counties until 6 p.m. MDT Saturday, with the agency warning that any fires that develop will spread rapidly.
In a Friday morning update, the NWS forecast office in Hastings warned that Saturday could see "near-critical" fire conditions.
Sunday would bring cold and windy conditions, as well as some light snow, it said.
Update, 3/13/26, 6:45 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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