Against the wind

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, March 25th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Fire in America’s Heartland.

Last week, Nebraska experienced the biggest wildfire in its history. The Morrill Fire decimated an area the size of Rhode Island, burning up the food supply of roughly 35,000 head of cattle.

WORLD correspondent Elizabeth Shenk spoke with a ranch family on the frontlines, fighting back the fire for days until help arrived.

ELIZABETH SHENK: Christine Mulloy’s 6 kids know how to do what they’re told.

CHRISTINE: A lot of kids out here are raised to listen to their parents really well because of safety.

Christine is loading hers into ATVs on the family farm in Angora, Nebraska, each armed with a shovel. Her husband Coote is leading a search to find the fire edge. That’s where they’ll begin working—their second day in a row. The family documented everything with videos.

This fire started on March 12th, when hurricane force winds downed a power pole. That lit the Sandhills grasslands about six miles from the family’s ranch. It raced 12 miles in the first 10 minutes and kept growing

NEWS ANCHOR: No containment on this fire. No containment on this fire.

The fire blew through 5 counties over four days. The only thing that stood between the area ranches and that fire were the people who lived there. And the best thing they had to douse it was dirt.

COOTE: We put out a whole bunch and then came back over the hill and what we'd already put out had flared back up 'cause something smoldered and took off again. So we had to put it all out again.

For the older generations, it’s nothing new. Since just after the Civil War, generations of Mulloys have fought off fires on this stretch of native prairie—perfect for grazing cattle but easily decimated by fire and wind. Carmen Mulloy is Coote’s mother.

CARMEN: Everybody has a part to play and the wives that have to stay home are doing a lot of praying and trying not to worry. Will my man get hurt? Will my child get hurt? Okay. I'm getting emotional.

Coote volunteers with the Bridgeport Fire Department, and he trains all of his kids–Carmen’s grandkids. 11-year-old Cameo:

CAMEO:  You take your shovel and if there's anything smoldering by the edges where there's grass, you wanna kick this stuff back.

...this is Cameo’s second fire…

CAMEO: So then it's at least three feet and that might still not even be enough because the wind, so you also put dirt on it…

…and she says it was worse than her first…

CAMEO: It was scarier 'cause it was bigger, but then you think about it and it's like, you feel so good that you helped your neighbors instead of sitting at home.

It was Cameo’s 15-year-old cousin Megan Thurow’s first fire.

THUROW: I kept on dreaming about that. We had to get the fire out 'cause it was coming towards our house and then I kept on waking up.

Nebraska ranks right behind Texas in beef production, and much of that comes from these family-owned ranches. Half of the ranchland in Nebraska is in the burn zone, an area roughly the size of Maryland.

About thirty neighbors and volunteer firefighters worked alongside Coote and his family, dredging up dirt with shovels and tractors to cover burning yucca, soapweed, sage, and cow dung.

COOTE: But the tractors can't go very fast especially where it's real hilly.

There’s no time to lose in a fire like this. Lives and livelihoods are at stake.

One elderly woman died trying to flee the fire. The total cattle loss is being tallied. The land can’t be grazed for one to two years. Those who can’t afford to feed their cows will have to sell them.

Thirty-eight miles away, Naomi Loomis is considered a neighbor. While she was fighting fire at another ranch, flames swept through her yard. The Mulloy kids showed up the next morning.

LOOMIS:  They're just so willing to help us put that fire out because that the wind did change and we did need their assistance for sure.

The Loomis’ lost everything around their house and barn. Neighbors and friends are bringing semi-loads of hay so they can feed their livestock.

LOOMIS: They're just there because they love you. They love you because of Jesus, and they want to help you. They've read the Bible. They know we're friends in Christ, so that is so uplifting…

Over the weekend, locals raised funds for the volunteer fire departments. Today, the fire is at 98% containment. Christine Mulloy again:

CHRISTINE: It would've burned to Lincoln if we would've waited. It would've burned clear to Kansas. It just would've kept going.

And while the smoke clears, another generation of tough Nebraska ranchers has been tested by fire and come out more confident in themselves, and each other.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Elizabeth Shenk.

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