Friday,  October 19, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 94 • 27 of 40 •  Other Editions

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engineer.
• McClusky said he and his wife planned to return to their hometown soon to sift through the rubble where their red-roofed home once stood.
• Winds continued to gust at more than 50 mph and a light drizzle fell Thursday but the moisture did little to douse hotspots in the area, Christman said.

• Authorities were investigating the source of the fire that began Wednesday afternoon. Firefighters from more than a dozen nearby towns and agencies helped fight the blaze, officials said.
• Mayor Steve Turner, who also is a volunteer firefighter, said creeks and area farmers who used tractors to dig fire lines did much to stop the spread of the blaze.
• "They did it on their own," the mayor said of farmers who helped control the fire. "We didn't contact them. They just showed up."
• A shelter was set up in the nearby town of Hettinger, where residents did all they could to make their neighbors feel welcome.

• "People opened up their homes. They brought food. It just makes you proud to be from a small community. Everyone pitched in, Christman said. "A lot of strangers with water trucks came in from the oil fields. Thank goodness for cellphones and radios."
• The state Department of Transportation said in a statement that it temporarily shut down a portion of U.S. Highway 12 Wednesday night, but reopened it again early Thursday.
• A dry summer and fall have produced an extreme fire risk in the region and conditions were ripe Thursday for more wildfires, with winds forecast to gust to more than 50 mph. No rain was expected.
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Nebraska firefighters battle blazes in 7 counties
GRANT SCHULTE,Associated Press

• LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Crews toiled through stiff winds and drought conditions Thursday to contain wildfires in seven Nebraska counties.
• The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency said the fires that began on Wednesday scorched an additional 58,000 acres in Nebraska, bringing the total acreage burned this year to about 300,000 acres -- an area nearly the size of Los Angeles.
• Most of the fires were contained or nearly contained by Thursday afternoon, but strong winds were complicating some of the firefighting efforts. Fires were reported in Cherry, Holt, Knox, Boone, Merrick, Nance and Fillmore Counties.

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