2026 Lincoln County, Nebraska Wildfires

United States › Nebraska › Lincoln County

0 Active Fires
0 Acres Burning
1 2026 Season Fires ▲ +1 vs same period last year
106,227 2026 Season Acres ▲ +106,227 vs same period last year

Newest wildfires in Lincoln County

Mar 15 Started 129,253 acres 3.0x the size of Washington D.C. 107.0x the size of Lincoln Park Cottonwood Fire

Largest wildfires in Lincoln County this season

129,253 Acres 3.0x the size of Washington D.C. 107.0x the size of Lincoln Park Cottonwood Fire Curtis

All 2026 Lincoln County Fires · 1 fires

A fire is listed here when it is located in Lincoln County. Each complex is counted once, through its parent: the parent carries the complex's acres, and its member fires are listed beneath it without being counted again. A fire that crossed a county line is listed with the acres that burned in Lincoln County, not its whole reported size. A fire located elsewhere that burned into Lincoln County is listed too, at its Lincoln County acres, and is not added to the Lincoln County fire counts. County lines come from a different boundary dataset than state lines, so Lincoln County's acres are counted along county lines and can differ a little at the edges from the figures on the state page.

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Fire Start date Containment Status Acres Center Ignition point
Cottonwood Fire Mar 15, 2026 100% Inactive 106,227 of 129,253 40.8376, -100.3417 40.8719, -100.4329
Totals 2026 Season Fires 1 Active Fires 0 Acres Burning 0 2026 Season Acres 106,227

Land cover · Lincoln County 2026

Burned acres in Lincoln County for the 2026 season, split by the kind of land that burned. Each figure counts the LANDFIRE 30 m cells inside a fire's latest mapped perimeter. The Fires tab carries the reported season acreage.

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Acres by cover type Acres in Lincoln County % of burned % of Lincoln County
Forest 18,684 17.6% 5.3%
Range (shrubland) 998 0.9% 0.4%
Grassland 83,587 78.7% 73.2%
Other 2,942 2.8% 21.1%
Measured acres in Lincoln County 106,211 — —
Measured fires
Fire Reported acres Acres in Lincoln County Forest Range (shrubland) Grassland Other Unclassified
Cottonwood Fire 129,253 106,211 (of 129,254) 18,684 998 83,587 2,942 0
Reconciliation
Line Fires Acres
Counted fires 1 129,253
Offered to measurement 1 129,253
Complex roll-up residue — 0
Fires with cells 1 129,253
Awaiting a perimeter 0 0
Awaiting measurement 0 0
Measurement errors 0 0
Smaller than one cell 0 0
Every cell outside Lincoln County 0 0
Measured acres in Lincoln County 1 106,211
Measured acres outside Lincoln County — 23,042
Whole perimeter acres — 129,254
Reported minus measured — -1
Burned in from another county 0 0

Forest ownership · Lincoln County 2026

Burned forest acres in Lincoln County for the 2026 season, split by who owns the land. Owners are mapped for forestland, so every figure here counts burned cells whose LANDFIRE lifeform is Tree. The Fires tab carries the season acreage this site reports.

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Burned forest by owner Forest acres in Lincoln County % of burned forest % of Lincoln County's forestland
Public 0 0.0% 9.8%
Federal 0 0.0% 0.0%
State 0 0.0% 9.8%
Local (county, city) 0 0.0% 0.0%
Tribal 0 0.0% 0.0%
Tribal 0 0.0% 0.0%
Private 5,876 31.4% 90.2%
Family 5,876 31.4% 90.2%
Corporate 0 0.0% 0.0%
TIMO/REIT 0 0.0% 0.0%
Other private 0 0.0% 0.0%
Ownership not modeled 12,808 68.6% —
Burned forest in Lincoln County 18,684 — —
Fires by owner
Fire Forest acres in Lincoln County Federal State Local Tribal Private Not modeled
Cottonwood Fire 18,684 0 0 0 0 5,876 12,808

0 measured fires burned zero forest cells.

Reconciliation
Owner cells 84,011 18,684
Land cover Forest cells 84,011 18,684
Equal 84,011

Search Fires

🔥 Cottonwood Fire 2026
Started: Mar 15 129,253 acre 100% contained
Near Curtis · Lincoln County, Nebraska