CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Humvee carrying grenades, ammunition and personnel belonging to F.E. Warren Air Force Base caught fire while it was traveling near Kimball, Nebraska on Monday afternoon, the base reported in a news release.
The base noted that personnel of the 790th Missile Security Forces Squadron discovered a fire in their Humvee — a four-wheeled utility vehicle that the civilian Hummer is based off of — while traveling on Nebraska Highway 71 in Kimball County, Nebraska on Monday. The county borders Wyoming and Laramie County to the east as part of the Nebraska panhandle.
When the vehicle’s occupants noticed the fire, they pulled aside near mile marker 23 and exited the vehicle, but were unable to remove ammunition due to the fire’s intensity. The base stated in its release that forty-millimeter grenades are in the vehicle and that the cause of the fire is currently unknown.
As of the latest update from the base, officers from the Kimball County Sheriff’s Office and Nebraska State Patrol were on the scene, as is a team from the base’s 90th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Flight. The base stated that the incoming personnel would “ensure the area is clear and safe” once the fire is extinguished.
The fire’s current status as of 5:42 p.m. Monday is unknown, but the Nebraska Department of Transportation has closed both Nebraska Highway 71 in both directions between Kimball and Harrisburg and Nebraska Highway 88 westbound from Bridgeport to the Highway 71 intersection due to the fire. All roads leading in and out of southeastern Wyoming are currently open as normal.
This story will be updated as further information becomes available.
