The South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression
Division was fighting 16 fires, including one with homes being
evacuated, after an evening thunderstorm sparked lightning fires
throughout the Black Hills.
A fast growing fire five miles southwest of Hot
Springs caused evacuations of a subdivision and had burned 100
acres by 10 p.m. It was expected to grow overnight.
Mike Weber with the Northern Great Plains
Information Center said firefighters could not use aviation support
to fight the Alabaugh Fire at night, so the blaze would most likely
continue to grow.
"We're going to be behind tomorrow morning," he
said.
The Type 2 Incident Management Team has
responded to the Alabaugh Fire.
Weber said fire officials are playing catch up
after one of their single-engine tankers crashed Saturday afternoon
near Kyle.
"That's never a good thing," he said. "We're a
plane short."
The South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression
Division has two more tankers devoted to fight fires and is calling
in another tanker and a National Guard Blackhawk helicopter for
assistance.
Another fire north of New Underwood started
about 6:30 p.m. and had burned an undertermined amount of land as
of 10:30 p.m. Saturday.
Bonnie Haskens, who lives near the fire, and
said it was burning nine miles north and two miles west of New
Underwood. She said it had burned some of their land and was
heading toward houses that were being evacuated.
The Meade County Dispatch said it could not
release any details on the New Underwood fire as of 10
p.m.
Weber said the South Dakota Wildland Fire
Suppression Division offered to help Meade County with assistance
on the fire, but they refused. He said volunteer fire departments
from the county are fighting the fire on their own.
He added that of all the fires started, the one
southwest of Hot Springs was their main concern.
"There are a lot of fires going tonight, but
our primary concern is the Alabaugh Fire," he said.
Other fires that the South Dakota Wildland Fire
Suppression Division was fighting Saturday night
included:
- East Porter Fire - 4.6 acres of grass fire on the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands in the Fall River Ranger District was contained Saturday afternoon. The fire was located five miles south of Edgemont.
- Weston County, Wyoming - Four fires broke out in Weston County near Newcastle and Four Corners. No size was available Saturday night.
- Hardy Fire - The Hardy Fire was a lightning caused fire near the Hardy Guard Station. The fire was contained at .2 acres by Forest Service and State of South Dakota firefighters.
- Custer State Park Fire - A lightning fire about five miles east of Custer State Park was estimated at .1 acres. Firefighters from the National Park Service, Forest Service and the state of South Dakota battled the blaze.
- Canyon Rim Fire - Firefighters from the state and the Black Hills National Forest responded to the fire near Argyle.
- Callen Springs Fire - The lightning strike fire was located about five miles west of Pringle. Firefighters from Black Hills National Forest and the Pringle Volunteer Fire Department were battling the fire.
Other fires have been reported, but no
additional information was known as of 11 p.m. Saturday. One was
reported three miles southwest of Pringle, one two miles west of
Hot Springs, one near Hill City and one about three miles north of
Beaver Creek Campground.
