STATEWIDE, Neb. – Gov. Jim Pillen is keeping the central and western part of the state in a burn ban, largely due to consistent dry conditions. 

Pillen issued an executive order on Tuesday extending the burn ban, which was scheduled to expire Wednesday, to the western two-thirds of the state. 

The previous executive order was issued after a prescribed fire by Nebraska Game and Parks spiraled out of control and burned more than 24,000 acres of land and killed dozens of cattle near Johnstown in north-central Nebraska. 

The ban starts at the state border with South Dakota and runs south along Highway 81, cutting through Norfolk and Columbus until the Highway 92 intersection in between Shelby and Rising City. 

The line then turns south on Highway 281 just south of St. Paul and extends to the Kansas border, running through Grand Island and Hastings.

All properties and areas with local burn permits west of the aforementioned highways cannot burn until May 10. 

Areas east of the line can burn so long as a Red Flag Warning is not in affect from the National Weather Service.