At 7:30 Wednesday evening I found myself out at the White Draw Fire, northeast of Edgemont, South Dakota. As of tonight, it is 80 percent contained and has burned 8,900 acres.
The firefighters have, at least for now, successfully stopped the spread of the fire on the north side. In the photo above, the fire on the ridge on the right (or west) side was checked at the edge of the timber with dozer lines and burn outs.
The crews put some effort into preparation of the north side along Pilger Mountain Road before beginning the burnout. They used graders or dozers to scrape along the sides of the road, doubling or tripling the width of the effective fireline, and pruned trees and eliminated brush and other ladder fuels near the road. This reduced the chances of intense heat leading to spot fires across the road during the burnout. I saw where one spot fire occurred, but it was held to about 20 feet in diameter. Great job, folks!
