According to an article in the Rapid City Journal, the 1959 Deadwood fire which started on September 8, 1959 was the most destructive fire to private property, homes, and infrastructure recorded in South Dakota. Some other stats in the article are difficult to believe, such as the claim that there were 1,000 firefighters working on the fire within the first hour.
…(Jerome) Harvey drove his truck toward town and was flagged down by a group of volunteer firefighters who were working the north section of the fire.“They were trying to get back into Deadwood, so they piled on the flatbed truck,” he said.
After he found a safe parking place, Harvey went to the Forest Service to ask if they needed help battling the blaze. A fire check point had been set up on Main Street Deadwood in front of the Franklin Hotel.
“They put anyone to work who had blood in them,” Harvey said.
So, he loaded fire equipment in his Universal Jeep and took off toward Strawberry Hill.
He and other volunteers were working spot fires on the south end of the hill when they heard the roar of the approaching wildfire.
“There’s this roaring noise a fire makes when it is topping in the trees,” he said.
“I knew we were going to get trapped, so I started down the hill toward Little Strawberry Creek. My only thinking was to get in that water.”
Harvey and the others lay down in the creek.
“The fire burned right over the top of us,” he said. “None of us got hurt.”
