Secretary of State Highlights 'Generosity of Nebraskans' In the Wake of Wildfire Devastation
by Matt Johnson
(Photo credit Matt Johnson)
OMAHA — Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen spoke about the Sandhills fires and shared stories about the ongoing “generosity” of Nebraskans amidst the devastation. He opened his remarks at a Monday event in Omaha with some sobering news about the wildfires in western Nebraska.
“Seven hundred thousand acres—that’s 1,100 square miles,” Evnen said. “Tens of thousands of head of livestock were killed. A woman trying to leave her home lost her life. People have lost their livelihoods. They herded cattle out. They got on their horses and herded cattle out to try to save them, put them on cattle trucks to try to get them out. But people lost their homes. They lost their barns. They lost their livestock. They lost everything.”
In the midst of the devastation, however, came hope. On Friday, Evnen was sent a photo taken by his Deputy Secretary Cindi Allen while she was traveling near Ogallala. The photo showed a long convoy of semi-tractor trailers carrying large bales of hay west into the burned-out areas.
“Nobody ordered these trucks. Nobody ordered this hay. Nobody paid anybody a dime for it,” Evnen said. “These are people who up and did this at their own expense. That’s the generosity of Americans, the generosity of Nebraskans, to take care of their neighbors when they’re in trouble.”
The relief effort was organized largely online. One organizer, Justin Smith, a rancher from Craig, Nebraska, put out a message on Facebook last week asking for help.
“Many of us have seen it in our home county, town, or even personally been affected somehow by fire and know the devastation,” Smith said. “One thing I know for certain in Nebraska is when neighbors are in trouble or hurting, we step up and take care of one another.”
As Evnen shared the photo of the convoy with the luncheon group, he said it gave him a little faith and confidence in humankind.
“We still have the values and the principles and the virtues in mind with our kids in our state,” Evnen said. “So, through this terrible catastrophe, I hope that you can take a little bit of comfort in the state of the world from what our people are doing to help our people.”
— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.