South Fork Fire Update: June 16, 2026

RELEASE DATE: Jun 16, 2026

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Current evacuations remain the same as yesterday

Fire Update: South Fork Fire

Tuesday, June 16, 2026 – 8:00 a.m. MDT

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2

Incident Commander Jay Mickey

Phone (public and media inquiries): 308-775-5438

Email: 2026.southfork@firenet.gov

Linktree: linktr.ee/2026southforkfire

Safety Message: For their own safety and that of fire crews, the public is urged not to stop on Hwy. 20 in areas where firefighters are working.

Current Conditions: Containment on the South Fork Fire is 64% and acreage is 39,057 acres with approximately 501 personnel assigned. Line is now in place around the entire fire perimeter. The greatest area of containment yesterday occurred on the north edge of the fire in Division Zulu. On all other areas of the fire, crews are securing and mopping up the containment line. This is expected to continue for several days. Suppression repair work is also expected to begin during this timeframe. This work will include erosion control using features such as water bars, in areas that might be conducive to washing out during future rainstorms. Fire managers are beginning to align resources with current fire conditions.

Where crews are actively working immediately south of Hwy. 20, on the southeastern edge in Division Alpha, fire managers ask the public not to stop in the fire area or on pull-offs adjacent to the fire. This compromises public and firefighter safety and interferes with firefighters’ work. Across the fire, night operations remain in place, with some resources located in Crawford, while the majority will be on the western active area of the fire.

Weather and Fire Behavior: A fire weather watch remains in effect from noon today through Wednesday June 17 at 9 pm for low relative humidity and gusty winds. On Tuesday, winds will be west to northwest gusting 25-35mph. Humidity will be 10-15% the duration of the fire weather watch. On Wednesday, the winds will be northwest gusting 35-50mph. Lines will be tested during this time, especially on Wednesday which is expected to have the strongest winds.

Air Quality – For current air quality information, visit forecast.weather.gov. Nebraska air quality information: https://dwee.nebraska.gov/smoke-and-air-quality. Air Quality Guide: Air Quality Guide for Particle Pollution https://tinyurl.com/prepare-for-poor-air-quality

Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR): tfr.faa.gov The South Fork Fire is currently under a TFR. Please respect the fight restrictions including drones and unmanned aircraft systems. These pose a significant risk to our aviation safety.