State, federal and volunteer firefighters on Tuesday afternoon contained a wildfire about 7 miles northwest of Hill City off the Deerfield Road.

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the South Slate Fire, which was reported at 12:45 p.m., Tuesday, near the intersection of Deerfield Road and Paradise Drive. Originally estimated at 3 to 5 acres, it was burning in an area of the Black Hills National Forest "a couple hundred yards" from homes on private land, "so it definitely was a threat," said national forest spokesman Frank Carroll.

The fire was contained before it caused any damage to structures.

Six U.S. Forest Service engines and one state engine were assisted in fighting the blaze by volunteers and by the Sierra Hotshots, a 20-member hand crew from California, Carroll said. The Sierra Hotshots are in the Black Hills to assist with prescribed burns elsewhere.

By late afternoon Tuesday, crews had constructed a bulldozer and hose line around the fire. Carroll at 4 p.m. did not have an acreage estimate on the fire. He said it was not a prescribed burn that escaped, as some earlier reports indicated.