The South Dakota Division of Wildfire Suppression will be moving from their headquarters at the Rapid City Regional Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is forcing them to move after they spent $1.8 million in 2003 to retrofit the old unused passenger terminal at the airport to serve as their headquarters and home for the Northern Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Dispatch Center. The FAA began the eviction process in 2006 saying they were not aware until then that there was a new tenant at the airport.
In 2009 the U.S. Congress earmarked approximately $2 million for a new dispatch facility located south of Rapid City adjacent to the new Black Hills National Forest Mystic Ranger District office at 8123 South Highway 16, Rapid City, SD 57702. They moved into the new building January 9, 2012. (More information and photos of the new dispatch center.)
The State fire offices will also be moving. Recently the South Dakota legislature passed and the governor signed a bill providing funds to remodel an old state fire facility on the west side of Rapid City, not far from the coffee shop that produces the Goodness, Gracious Great Beans of Fire custom blended coffee for Jay Esperance’s Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team C.
