Dinosaurs threatened by wildfire — again

When I saw the “Dinosaurs survive wildfire” headline today in the Rapid City Journal, at first I thought it was referring to the article pointed out yesterday by @Rachel_Rocket that appeared in my Twitter feed. Rachel’s tweet linked to a recent study in Australia which concluded that bushfires appeared in that country 50 million years earlier than previously thought and may be associated with the demise of the dinosaurs.

Dinosaur Hill fire
Photo by Kristina Barker/Rapid City Journal

But it turned out that the Rapid City Journal was more interested in a wildfire that threatened some dinosaurs YESTERDAY. This time it was life-sized replicas of them in Dinosaur Park. Pushed by 12 mph winds with gusts up to 31, the fire burned three to five acres before being controlled by firefighters from the Rapid City Fire Department and other agencies. This may be one of the rare examples of it being reported that FIREFIGHTERS SAVED THE DINOSAURS.

The Rapid City Journal has more info and photos HERE, and an interesting video showing firefighters in action HERE.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.