Firefighters, citizens reflect on Elsie/Grainton fires

The combination of drought, high winds and 90 plus-degree heat during the day of Friday, April 22 had first responders and the community as a whole holding its breath, praying for the day to end with no fire calls. Perkins County, however, would not be so lucky.
With the topsoil moisture rating very short in Nebraska, around 82 percent, and the entire area in severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Department of Ag drought monitor, dry fields and grasses were sitting as perfect fuel for fire, which, unfortunately would start southeast of Elsie at approximately 5:15 p.m..
“With all the fires raging due to the drought we were experiencing, we knew it was a matter of time before it happened in Perkins County,” said Mike Lee, fire chief for the Madrid Fire Department.
According to Perkins County Sheriff and County Emergency Manager Jim Brueggeman, the fire started by an arcing power line near roads Road 348 and 756 ½ northeast of Elsie and moved south fast because of 70 plus mile-per-hour winds.
“When the page (from dispatch) came across, we could not help but expect the worst,” Lee said.
The fire moved quickly south, overcoming the farm of John and Jane Culver. Homesteaded in 1865 by John’s family, the Culver acreage consists of a 1908 home that John and Jane have resided in since 1973. With the speed and heat of the fire, firefighters were not able to get close to the home. However, the home was not touched. The house was one of the few things left standing once the fire moved passed.
In a matter of seconds, the wind pushed the fire across the field and the Culver’s tree rows, towards the highway, Lee said.
“As soon as it hit the next fence line, I knew we were in for a long night. There were not enough resources on scene yet to even attempt to stop it. It was defensive at that point,” Lee said. “With the smoke, dirt blowing, and the heat that the fire produced, it was one of the worst I have experienced.” Lee has been fighting fire for nearly 25 years.
“As we were getting closer to the scene, all you could see is a whole bunch of black smoke and dust. It was a little breathtaking at times watching that head fire in your rear view mirror jump the highway within seconds. You knew this was not going to be easy,” said Stacy Lee, fire lieutenant of the Madrid Fire Department.
Crossing the Highway
Residents northeast of Elsie started moving quickly once word got out that there was a fire southeast of the highway.
Greg and Mollie Robertson live just two miles northeast of Elsie and had been on edge for quite some time because of the dry weather, low humidity and strong winds. They had set up a plan-of-action for Friday after seeing how hot and windy it was going to be.
“Our plan basically consisted of getting our four children to a safe place, starting as many sprinklers around as we could, and, if we had time, grabbing what belongings we felt were important.”
Since Greg is a volunteer firefighter, I knew if we were faced with fire, I would have to handle it on my own. Or so I thought. Little did I know we would have a large amount of family, friends and neighbors answer the call,” Mollie said.
Greg did get the dreaded fire call shortly after 5 pm Friday while Mollie was in Madrid visiting her mother-in-law.
“Like he normally does, he called me and told me he was headed to a fire, and he told me I needed to head home and keep an eye on the place and start as many sprinklers as possible. Thankfully, I was able to leave my kids and head home on my own. As I approached our home, I could see the smoke,” Mollie said.
As she looked at the smoke, Mollie felt like the fire was going to stay east of her house and they would be OK. She started the sprinklers, and the smoke quickly got closer and closer. It was then she received a call from one of her brothers-in-law who is on the fire department telling her the fire was headed in her direction and she needed to leave.
“The wind had switched, we were in its path. As I was trying to start a final sprinkler, I could feel the heat of the oncoming blaze. I ran to the house and grabbed a few things and left,” Mollie said.
Kalib Hinkle worked on pulling the farm equipment out of the grass and on to the rocks for the Robertsons. He and Mollie’s sister-in-law, Katie, along with Katie’s two younger children, Trey and Ashley, then moved cattle that were in the Robertson’s pasture to a safe spot as they were in imminent danger.
Katie’s husband Darin, a member of the Elsie Fire Department, was out near his brother Greg’s home fighting the fire and could see his wife, children and neighbor pushing the cattle to safety. The scene was surreal, he said.
“We could see them from the hill we were on. They started to go east with the cows, but now the fire was in the pasture and they weren’t going to make it to the gate in time,” Darin said. “They were forced to turn around and go west with them.”
At this time, Trey and Ashley got separated and were forced to continue east as Katie and Kalib took the cows west. Darin said he felt helpless as he watched his family get split up by the raging monster.
“It was a helpless feeling watching them from a distance. The fire came within about 100 feet of them as they  pushed the cows and calves. They were able to get out of the west side of the pasture and onto the Elsie/Paxton road,” he said. At this time Darin said Brody Tyan showed up and helped move them to a pasture to the southwest, out of harm’s way. Fortunately, all of the cattle were all moved safely, he said.
Darin, Greg and the rest of the crews on scene, along with many, many farmers, stayed with the fire, preventing the fire from over taking the houses in its path.
“Greg said there were more tractors than he could count working to build fire barriers to save our home and shop, which basically houses our entire farming operation,” Mollie said.
Friends and neighbors were hauling water, running tractors, making food for firefighters, bringing supplies, supporting the effort in any way possible, Mollie said.
“The amount of phone calls I received from people asking what they could do, how they could help out at our house, was truly unbelievable. It was by our local and surrounding fire departments, loving family, friends, and neighbors and the Grace of God that our homestead and livelihood was spared,” Mollie said.
The fire burned just 200 yards from the Robertson’s shop, and burned on three sides of them, she said..
Sara and Bernie Schimonitz were another family whose home was also threatened by the fire.
For Sara, April 22 was a day like no other in her life.
“It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced,” Sara said. “Once we found out about the fire, my husband and three sons were out the door and headed to our neighbors with a tractor and blade and a pickup and nurse trailer to help with the blaze.”
As The fire was about a mile-and-a-half from their current home, and her husband’s grandparents 118-year-old farmhouse that they are restoring, which also sits on

their property, it didn’t take long for their yard to fill with thick smoke, she said.
“I maybe had 10 minutes to gather a few things and our pets before being evacuated then having to drive in zero visibility to get out of the area,” Sara said. “It was definitely a stressful situation and a dangerous one at that. All I could do was pray. We are so thankful for everyone’s efforts, our neighbors well-being and for living in a wonderful community.”
All of the efforts kept the fire away from the Schimonitz’s home, and they had no damage.
Mutual Aid
After the fire jumped the highway, more mutual aid was requested. According to Chad Buresh, Elsie fire chief who was in charge of the fire response that day, a total of 17 fire departments, three state agencies and the Perkins County Sheriff’s Office responded to the fire. Fire departments included the following: Madrid, Grant, Wallace, Keystone/Leymone, Ogallala, Paxton, Imperial, Lamar, Wauneta, Palisade, Hayes Center, Wellfleet/Maywood, Hershey, Sutherland, Maxwell and Venango. State agencies included Nebraska State Fire Marshall’s Wildland Incident Response and Assistance Team (WIRAT), Nebraska Forest Service and the Nebraska State Patrol. Also extremely instrumental in the efforts to contain the fire were several farmers and local businesses with disks and water trailers to assist in the effort. According to Mike Lee, the fire departments could not have contained the fire without the help of the farmers.
“We had several tractors with disks to help out. We could not have accomplished what we did without them,” Lee said.
The Elsie fire was finally contained north of road 763.5 where the departments, along with the farmers, were able to stop the blaze from progressing. However, hot spots remained. Throughout the night, the crews continued to travel the 7.5 mile long, 2 mile wide area containing flare-ups.
“I was very relieved to hear somebody say we were finally able to get it stopped. Even as relieved as I was, there was no time to rest. We still had a long night ahead of us,” Lee said.
Another Fire
A second fire occurred towards the eastern part of the 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 Sheriff Brueggeman, the fire did not start by lighting, as was reported in an earlier issue of the Tribune, but was most likely started at two points of origin by an arcing power line at one point and the other point being metal blowing up against an electric fence causing arcing, he said.
At the time that the fire started, Cherie and Gavin were in Grant at a birthday party with their five-year old-grandson. A farmer called Gavin and said the fire was headed directly towards his house.
“Gavin had his brother Grant go over to get our dog out of the house. We started to head home and got a call from our neighbor saying they were afraid that our house could be on fire,” Cherie said.
When they got home, Grant McClintock and Joshua Grauerholz had already started disking just south of the house to try and change the direction of the fire, or at least slow it down. Gavin and his son, Jesson, started to work on it as well.
“The fire trucks had already started putting the fire out, and farmers were showing up from all directions with their tractors and creating fire breaks. They worked until about 3:30 a.m., with a few staying to make sure it didn’t start up again. The fire got about 50 yards from the house,” she said.
Although the McClintocks lost trees on the west end of their farm, along with farm ground, they didn’t lose their house and are so very grateful, she said.
Some Rain and Relief
After the McClintock fire was contained, the fire crews continued to work at putting out hot spots and trees.
“We knew there was a storm front coming in, so we had to get as many of the hot spots out as we could. The wind finally switched direction as predicted. Fortunately for us, the rain was not far behind. Lightning was striking to the south, and we just hoped that there was enough rain to keep it at bay.
We were released shortly after this, exhausted, dirty, eyes burning, lungs burning, and hungry,” Mike Lee said.
Throughout the night, members of the communities had a staging area in Elsie at the fire hall where several brought water, Gatorade, food, and other needed supplies to assist the firefighters and farmers during their night’s work. Lee commented that he thinks he speaks for all when he says thank you to everyone who did anything to help.
“It was overwhelming seeing all the farmers and companies that reached out to help people with water trucks, tractors and disks,” said Stacy Lee.
“All of the departments came together with the training and knowledge we have gained over the years and knocked it out of the park. The farmers and others in the community were very useful and very much appreciated.
We now know what we can accomplish as a community if we all come together for a common goal,” Mike Lee said.
The Lees are also thankful for the health of their 19-year-old daughter, Keshia Leeper, who has served on the Madrid department for a little over a year, and who passed out while fighting the April 22 fire because of low oxygen.
Leeper was transported to the Perkins County Community Hospital where she was released the next day.
She was one of four firefighters who sustained non-life threatening injuries during the event.
Thank You
Groups within the county are currently raising funds, and/or organizing thank you events for those who helped with the April 22 fire. More information will be forthcoming in future issues of the Tribune.