Unprecedented wildfires have burned more than one million acres across Nebraska and neighbouring states in the US Great Plains (the broad, semi-arid interior region that produces much of the country's beef) this spring, shattering historical records in a single month. Nebraska's Morrill fire alone consumed over 642,000 acres — the largest blaze ever recorded in the state — killing at least one resident and thousands of livestock, while destroying miles of fencing and grazing land across the Nebraska Sandhills, one of the world's largest intact temperate grasslands. Scientists warn that a convergence of unusually warm, dry winters, summer storms that produce dense grass growth, and persistent drought — with over 40% of Nebraska in extreme drought — is driving a structural shift in fire risk, making destructive spring fire seasons increasingly likely across the region.