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Weston said destroyed much of their food supply.
• The Wellnitz fire has an estimated cost of $700,000 and counting, as firefighters expect to have it contained by Wednesday.
• Nebraska Emergency Management Assistant Director Al Berndt said the Douthit and West Ash fires in the Nebraska Panhandle were expected to cost $2.5 million.
• Berndt said the U.S. Forestry Service will cover firefighting costs on federal parks, grasslands, and forests, while Nebraska and South Dakota will reimburse local departments for fire services on state and private property.
• Nebraska will also receive grant money from FEMA to cover its costs. But Berndt said he won't know how much the state and federal government will end up paying until mapping experts determine who owns what.
• "We will split the cost," Berndt said. "If 30 percent of the burn area is on federal

ground and 70 percent is on state and private ground, then we're responsible for 70 percent of the cost."
• The Douthit fire, northwest of Crawford in Sioux and Dawes counties, was almost totally contained Tuesday after burning nearly 47 square miles -- an area half the size of Lincoln.
• The West Ash fire in Dawes County, southwest of Chadron, was 65 percent contained after burning more than 91 square miles. The fire has not expanded since Monday, said Sheila French, a spokeswoman for the fire response team.
• Nebraska firefighters have spent most of the summer battling blazes sparked by lightning amid an intense drought. Last month, six fires burned an estimated 60,000 acres around Lake McConaughy, the state's largest reservoir and a popular summer getaway. In July, three wildfires in north-central Nebraska blackened nearly 120 square miles and destroyed at least 14 homes.
• Last month, Berndt estimated that the state would receive bills totaling at least $7.5 million. The Nebraska Emergency Management Agency started the year with about $10 million, thanks in part to lower-than-expected Missouri River flood recovery expenses.
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