RAPID CITY – It’s been a busy holiday weekend for firefighters in Dawes County and the southern Black Hills with 9 wildfires in less than 24 hours starting Saturday afternoon.
The Pete Fire 19 miles north of Crawford was reported at 2:17 pm on the 4th and was contained and controlled at 3:30 by state, local, and federal crews at 3-acres. Caused by equipment use, it was declared out at 8:30 this morning.
The Water Fire on the west side of Angostura Reservoir was reported 9 minutes after the Pete Fire and held to half-an-acre by local, state, and federal firefighters in less than hour and listed as controlled after another hour. Fireworks were the cause.
Lightning is blamed for the tenth of an acre Ruby Fire 4 miles east of Hill City. It was reported just after 8:00 Saturday night and was contained by federal crews in just over 2 hours and controlled at 9:15 this morning.
Lightning was also blamed for a pair of fires in Dawes County, each held to a tenth of an acre. The Liberty Fire on the southeast corner of the Soldier Creek Wilderness was reported at 8:19 pm and contained by federal crews an hour later.
A combination of local and federal crews responded to the Rock Fire, 6.3-miles northwest of Crawford at 12:30 this morning. It was declared contained, controlled, and out after an hour.
The Freeland Fire was reported at 8:19 this morning 11 miles northwest of Pringle. It was listed at 1-1/2 acres at 4:00 this afternoon with more local and federal resources responding.
The Lyman Fire 6-miles south of Jewel Cave National Monument was spotted a little before 10:00 this morning and contained at a tenth of an acres 3 hours later by local, state, and federal firefighters.
The cause of the Bismark Lake Fire about 2-miles north of Bismark Lake in Custer County is still being determined. It was reported at 10:48 today and contained about 1:30 this afternoon by state and federal crews.
The last fire reported was the largest so far. The Pete 2 Fire came in about 11:30 this morning and burned 8.8-acres northeast of Crawford and southeast of Ardmore near McMeekin Reservoir before local and federal firefighters contained and controlled it at 12:30.