Four Corners Fire Overview
At around 1100 am Sunday January 15 th the Four Corners wildfire started in the west central portion of the Halsey National Forest boundary, and by Monday morning on the 16th had burned 5568 acres. The majority of these acres were composed of grassland, as the wind direction and topography helped steer the fire away from more heavily treed areas of the forest boundary. The fire was 100 percent contained by Tuesday evening the 17th and by then fire investigators had unfortunately determined that the fire appeared to be human caused.
Approximately 100 personnel were assigned to fight this fire including resources from volunteers, federal, state and county levels. Fourteen fire engines, a water tender, and a dozer were all utilized to fight this fast moving fire. An air tanker was also at the disposal of the fire managers, but strong winds kept it grounded. The North Platte National Weather Service’s role in the fire was a remote one, but very important. Our job was to provide on-site fire managers with accurate forecasts which help predict fire behavior and movement, and help keep fire fighters safe. This last role is the number one priority for all agencies involved.
Fires in January can definitely be considered rare. Local fire experts have noted that while rare, fires this time of year are usually big, such as the Four Corners Fire and the Thedford fire from the late winter of 1999. Weather conditions were definitely a factor leading to the large size of this fire as the lack of precipitation and much above seasonal temperatures helped keep fuels in a ready to burn state. January will go down as the warmest on record across the region, and in fact many records were broken for high temperature at North Platte and Valentine through the first half of January. The Saturday before the fire, high temperatures reached 68 degrees at Thedford and North Platte, and 71 degrees at Valentine. On Sunday readings were slightly cooler but still managed to reach into the mid 60s. These temperatures combined with relative humidity readings in the teens and northwest winds gusting over 30 mph, to create conditions favorable for extreme fire behavior. The fire had done most of it’s damage by sunset Sunday as the combination of fire breaks and improving weather conditions allowed fire crews to begin making a perimeter around the head of the fire, with total containment coming within the next 24 hours.
