Ashby, Minor & Cottonwood Fire Update: April 2, 2026

Ashby, Minor & Cottonwood Fire Update: April 2, 2026

RELEASE DATE: Apr 02, 2026

Thursday, April 2, 2026 - 9 a.m. MDT

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2

Incident Commander Jay Mickey

Phone (public and media inquiries): 719-283-6829, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. MDT

Email: [email protected]

Linktree: linktr.ee/morrillandcottonwoodfires

Weather Note: Rain did fall across the state yesterday and through the evening, with 0.05 inches recorded in IA Zone B. IA Zones C and D received 0.25 and 0.50 inches, respectively. While the moisture is welcome, grasses will still carry fire as the warming trend begins.

Initial Attack (IA): Six IA groups are pre-positioned in communities across the state-Alliance, Ogallala, North Platte, Broken Bow, and now, Grand Island-and available to assist local fire departments, as needed and requested, with suppressing new wildfires.

Wednesday, statewide IA activity remained low.

• Thursday, IA Group 5 will relocate from Columbus to Grand Island to be closer to areas that received less or no precipitation.

• Wednesday evening, firefighters from IA Group 5 were guests at a meeting of fire chiefs from all fire departments within a 50-mile radius of Columbus.

• According to Bertrand Volunteer Fire and Rescue, the Johnson Hills Fire, which received assistance this week from two IA groups, is 80 percent contained as of Wednesday.

• Two Nebraska National Guard Black Hawk helicopters, based in Ogallala, are available to assist the IA groups if needed; a national guard Chinook is expected to arrive Thursday.

• All IA groups are maintaining a state of readiness, cross training and building cohesion with the local firefighters, and getting familiar with the areas they are in.

Ashby and Minor Fires: The 14,082-acre Minor Fire was declared 100 percent contained Wednesday. The 36,004-acre Ashby Fire will remain at 97 percent contained due to an area of buried heat that could continue to smolder until it is excavated. Both fires will be staffed appropriately for current conditions.

Cottonwood Fire: Due to several consecutive overcast days and no observable smoke within the interior, fire managers will be aligning staffing with current conditions over the next few days. The Cottonwood Fire is 129,253 acres and 100 percent contained.

Weather and Fire Behavior: Elevated fire weather conditions return to western Nebraska Thursday afternoon as temperatures near 70 degrees and relative humidity levels in the teens are possible. The rest of the state will remain cloudy, cool, and more humid. Breezy winds will continue, with wind shifts daily and gusts in around 30 mph. Where humidity levels are high, fire behavior and the rate of fire spread in herbaceous vegetation will decrease. However, woody vegetation absorbs moisture from the air or precipitation very slowly; if any new fire were to start in the historically dry brush and timber, it would likely be very active and spread rapidly.

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Ashby, Minor, Cottonwood & Morrill Fire Update 04-02-26