ISTANBUL

The efforts to battle wildfires in the central US state of Nebraska continue after the blazes consumed nearly 800,000 acres (nearly 323,748 hectares), officials said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of firefighters from across Nebraska and neighboring states are battling wildfires that have burned more than twice the size of Rhodes Island in Greece.

“Efforts continue in response to wildfires in western Nebraska,” the Nebraska State Patrol wrote on the US social media company X, adding that the state law enforcement superintendent, Colonel Bryan Waugh, has briefed US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The briefing in Ogallala was also joined by Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen and Agriculture Undersecretary Richard Fordyce, as well as senators and members of the Cabinet, Waugh wrote on X.

On Monday, Rollins said on X that over 800,000 acres across the entire state have burned, adding that “the scale of this devastation is something you have to see to understand.”

According to Nebraska Public Media on Tuesday, firefighters are making progress battling wildfires in the state, with at least partial containment now reported on all four fires.

Officials have said that one of the fires, known as the Morrill fire, is the largest ever recorded in the state’s history and has resulted in at least one fatality.