Fires Tear Through Nebraska Grasslands
February 28, 2026
March 29, 2026
Acquired with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-21 satellite on February 28 and March 29, 2026, these false-color images (bands M11-I2-I1) show prairies in western Nebraska before and after several wildfires spreading through the region. NASA Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin.
On the afternoon of March 12, 2026, a wildfire broke out in Morrill County, Nebraska. Within 12 hours, strong winds propelled the flames approximately 70 miles (110 kilometers) east-southeast across the prairie. The Morrill Fire would burn more than 640,000 acres (260,000 hectares) in a week, becoming the largest wildfire in state history.
This image (right) shows the extent of recently burned areas near the North Platte River in western Nebraska on March 29. At that time, authorities reported that the Morrill Fire was 100% contained. However, crews were working to contain two smaller fires immediately to the northeast, the Ashby and Minor fires, which broke out early on March 26. For comparison, the image on the left was acquired on February 28, before the fires. Both are in false colors to better distinguish burned areas.
The fires occurred amid an active onset of wildfires in the United States in 2026. The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that 15,436 fires had burned 1,510,973 acres nationwide as of March 27. This is much higher than the 10-year average (9,195 fires burning 664,792 acres) for the same period.
The Great Plains were particularly prone to fires in early 2026. Exceptionally dry fuels contributed to rapid fire growth and other unusual fire behavior for this time of year, according to the NIFC. Throughout the winter, much of the region experienced warmer and windier than average conditions, as well as less than 50 percent of the average precipitation over a 90-day period, resulting in low soil moisture and ready-to-burn herbaceous fuels.
Fires in western Nebraska have affected large areas of ranches and pastures, destroyed homes, barns and fences and injured or killed livestock, according to media reports. The Morrill Fire also burned much of the Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge in the Nebraska Sandhills, an area of grasslands, wetlands and dunes used by migratory birds. Despite the fires, reports indicate that hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes continue their annual migration through the Platte River Valley.
NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using VIIRS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE, GIBS/Worldview and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Story by Lindsey Doermann.
Downloads
February 28, 2026
March 29, 2026
References and resources
- InciWeb (2026) Late Morrill. Accessed March 30, 2026.
- National Interagency Fire Center (March 27, 2026) National Fire News. Accessed March 30, 2026.
- National Interagency Fire Center (March 20, 2026) Fire Fuels and Behavior Advisory: Northern and Central Great Plains. Accessed March 30, 2026.
- Nebraska Public Media (March 30, 2026) ‘It’s Like Death’: Grief, Hope and Resilience After Wildfire Ravages Nebraska Sandhills. Accessed March 30, 2026.
- The Washington Post (March 24, 2026) Wildfires are ravaging unusual parts of the United States, raising fears of a brutal season. Accessed March 30, 2026.
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