Nearby Elsie fire burns 4,000 acres

    Started by an arcing power-line, a fast-moving fire southeast of Elsie consumed more than 4,000 acres and threatened several homes.
    Friday’s fire was 100% contained as of Tuesday, according to Perkins County Sheriff Jim Brueggeman, who also serves as the County Emergency Manager.
    “This doesn’t mean that there isn’t still a potential for a hotspot to flare up again, especially with the wind still blowing so hard,” Brueggeman said.
    Started by an arcing power line at approximately 5:15 p.m. around roads 348 and 757, the fire was pushed swiftly north by 70 plus mile-per-hour winds. Brueggeman said because of the wind, the call was paged out county-wide, with whistles blowing in Venango, Grant, Madrid and Elsie.
    Although all four departments quickly responded, the wind quickly moved the fire north where it overcame the John and Jane Culver farmstead, burning nearly everything except the house.
    Jane Culver reported that one of the firemen on the Elsie department told her the fire trucks tried getting up her driveway to protect the house, but the fire was too hot and they couldn’t get to it.
    “It is by the grace of God that we still have our home,” Jane said.
    The fire consumed tree rows, equipment and a barn on the Culver farmstead before making its way north.
    Jumping Highway 23 between Roads 347 and 348 around 5:40 p.m., the Perkins County Sheriff’s Office closed the section of highway, with the Department of Roads shutting down the entire stretch of Highway from the 61/23 Junction east to Wallace an hour later, where it remained closed over the next several hours.
    After the fire jumped the road, more mutual aid was requested with Paxton, Hayes Center and Wallace fire departments being called, Brueggeman said.
    Several farmers and local businesses also responded with disks and water trailers to assist.
    “Without the communities’ help, we would have probably been fighting the fire into the weekend and even this week,” Brueggeman said.
    “This was truly a team effort.”
    In all, 16 fire departments responded to the fire and three state departments along with the Perkins County Sheriff’s Office.
    The fire continued north to road 763.5 where the departments, along with the farmers, were able to stop the blaze from progressing, but hot spots remained. Throughout the night, the crews continued to travel the 7.5 mile long, 2 mile wide area containing flare-ups, Brueggeman said.
    Around the time the fire jumped the highway, a motorist driving through the area became disoriented in the smoke, fire and blowing dirt and drove off of the highway, with his pickup becoming stuck near the railroad tracks, Brueggeman said.
    Luckily, one of the fire trucks on the scene was able to pick him up and get him to safety.
    “He was lucky. His pickup was a total loss,” he said.
McClintock fire
    A second fire occurred in eastern Perkins County around 9 p.m., two-and-a-half miles south of Gavin and Cherie McClintock’s home at Roads 755 and 352. According to Brueggeman, this fire was likely started by lightning.
    Gavin, Grant and Jesson McClintock, along with Joshua Grauerholz and many neighboring farmers, began disking and creating fire breaks, while various fire departments worked to stop the fire, which came within 50 yards of the house, according to Cherie McClintock. It took until about 3:30 a.m. to contain the fire, she said.
    “We lost some trees and a lot of farmground burned,” she said. “We are so grateful for all involved.”
    Brueggeman said four firefighters were transported to the Grant hospital with non-life threatening injuries during the event.
    Despite the farmground and pasture burned, a total of three outbuildings were lost in the fire. No homes were lost, he said.