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Tag: South Dakota

Legion Lake Fire east of Custer, SD slowed Monday night

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 9 Comments on Legion Lake Fire east of Custer, SD slowed Monday night

The fire has burned over 2,500 acres in Custer State Park

Above: The Legion Lake Fire, looking south at 1:16 p.m. MST December 11, 2017. 

(UPDATED at 7:17 a.m. MST December 12, 2017)

The spread of the Legion Lake Fire 6 miles east of Custer, South Dakota slowed overnight as the strong winds from Monday decreased. The fire has forced the closure of the park and the evacuation of the Blue Bell Lodge on Highway 87.

It started near the Lodge off Highway 16A just before 8 a.m. Monday and was pushed southeast by winds gusting up to 53 mph. By 4 p.m. the wind had decreased to 4 mph and remained between 1 and 8 mph through the night. The suspected cause is a power line hit by a falling tree near the Lodge.

Articles on Wildfire Today about the Legion Lake Fire are tagged “Legion Lake Fire”.

Monday afternoon fire personnel said it had burned 2,500 acres. Our very unofficial estimate based on satellite data is that by 3:06 a.m. Tuesday the fire had covered between 2,500 and 3,000 acres .

The wind Tuesday will be a little stronger than was predicted Monday, and should be out of the northwest at 9 to 13 mph. The relative humidity will hover around 20 percent by the afternoon and the temperature should be in the high 50’s under mostly sunny skies.

Tuesday night and Wednesday firefighters will be challenged by strong winds again — 17 to 24 mph out of the northwest gusting over 30 mph.

Two large air tankers and a lead plane will be available at Rapid City beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday. A helicopter has also been ordered. No aircraft were used on the fire Tuesday other than a quick orbit or two by the lead plane as it arrived late in the afternoon.

Legion Lake Fire fire south dakota
Map showing the approximate perimeter of the Legion Lake Fire in Custer State Park in South Dakota at 3:06 a.m. MST December 12, 2017.

The fire is burning south of the Legion Lake Lodge on both sides of Badger Clark Memorial Road. It is east of Highway 87, and has reached Heddy Draw.

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(UPDATED at 5:27 p.m. MST December 11, 2017)

The Legion Lake Fire in Custer State Park in the Black Hills grew to 2,500 acres Monday afternoon, said Scott Jacobson, a spokesperson for the Black Hills National Forest. A Type 3 Incident Management Team with Incident Commander Rob Powell is on scene and Jay Esperance’s Type 2 IMT has been ordered. The fire is south of Highway 16A about halfway between Custer and Hermosa.

Two large air tankers (including Tanker 101, an MD-87), an Air Attack aircraft, and a lead plane should have arrived at Rapid City late Monday afternoon. T-101 was at there by about 3:30 but was waiting for a lead plane to work with him. The Incident Commander said that at that moment there was no assignment for the air tanker and the second one that was en route, and do not load them with retardant. They were told to be available for missions at 8 a.m. Tuesday. A helicopter is also on order. Four 20-person Type 2 hand crews were ordered Monday morning.

Typically this time of the year no firefighting aircraft are on duty in South Dakota, and it can be difficult to find them anywhere in the country. But quite a few were rounded up last week for the wildfires in Southern California.

At 4:50 p.m. Mr. Jacobson said 30 engines and a total of 200 personnel were assigned to the fire.

The strong winds that caused the fire to spread so quickly on Monday will decrease overnight and will be from the west or northwest at about 6 to 8 mph Monday night and Tuesday. The relative humidity Tuesday will be about 20 percent and the temperature will reach 56 degrees. Tuesday night and Wednesday will be quite windy, 15 mph out of the northwest with gusts at 25 to 28 mph. In light of that forecast, firefighters should be able to make good progress on Tuesday before the winds hit again the next day.

map legion lake fire south dakota
Map showing the approximate perimeter of the Legion Lake Fire in Custer State Park in South Dakota at 1:07 p.m. MST December 11, 2017.

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(Updated at 1:23 p.m. MST December 11, 2017)

The Legion Lake Fire was reported near the Legion Lake Lodge in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota just before 8 a.m. MST on December 11, 2017. By 10: 20 a.m. it had burned an estimated 1,000 acres about 6 air miles east of Custer. A Type 3 Incident Management Team has been ordered. Portions of highway 16A and 87 are closed.

There has been very little precipitation in the Black Hills during the last month or so. At 9:18 a.m. MST today a weather station a few miles southeast of the fire recorded 45 degrees, 20 percent relative humidity, and winds out of the north at 22 mph gusting to 45.

Wildfire east of Black Hills burns 291 acres

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , 1 Comment on Wildfire east of Black Hills burns 291 acres

The fire appears to have started from grinding and welding operations on a railroad line

Above: Dry Creek Fire, November 22, 2017. Photo by Josephine Weekley, Fairburn VFD.

(Originally published at 1:33 p.m. MST November 24, 2017)

A wildfire east of the Black Hills of South Dakota burned 291 acres between Hermosa and Fairburn November 22. It occurred on a day when the weather station at Rapid City Regional Airport recorded wind gusts up to 42 mph and a minimum relative humidity of 29 percent. The suspected cause, Jim Strain, Assistant Chief at the Fairburn Fire Department said, was railroad maintenance that included welding and grinding on the tracks.

The fast moving fire threatened structures on several ranches but was knocked down by 4 p.m. the same day. It was declared controlled Friday, November 24.

Railroads start many wildfires in the United States. The most common causes are inadequately maintained spark arrestors, faulty brakes, and like in this case, grinding and welding. Too often the companies are not held accountable or required to pay for the costs of suppressing the fires.

(articles on Wildfire Today tagged “railroad”)

Dry Creek Fire South Dakota
Dry Creek Fire. Photo by Josephine Weekley, Fairburn VFD.
Map of the Dry Creek Fire
Map of the Dry Creek Fire, provided by Fairburn VFD.
Dry Creek Fire South Dakota
Dry Creek Fire. Photo by Josephine Weekley, Fairburn VFD.

Interview with Incident Commander of the Beaver Fire in South Dakota

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags ,

Incident Commander Todd Hoover provided information about the Beaver Fire east of Pringle, South Dakota, September 14, 2017. We asked him about how aircraft were used, and we also have video and still photos of firefighters, air tankers, and helicopters.

The fire has burned approximately 400 acres between Wind Cave National Park and Pringle, South Dakota. On Friday, September 15, it was slowed by rain in the area.

We apologize for wind noise in the recording.

Articles tagged Beaver Fire and the Rankin Fire on Wildfire Today.

Rain slows wildfires in Northern Rockies and South Dakota

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , ,

Above: Precipitation received at RAWS weather stations in northwest Montana in the 24 hours before 9:42 a.m. September 15, 2017. The amounts range from a few hundredths to almost half an inch.

Western Montana and the northern Great Plains are receiving some much needed moisture that will slow the spread of dozens of large fires in the area, some of which have been burning for more than a month and a half.

The Rice Ridge Fire has spread over 155,000 acres just east of Seeley Lake 35 miles northeast of Missoula, Montana since it was discovered July 24. The incident management team reported Thursday evening that the east side of the fire had received a quarter of an inch of rain. A weather station just northeast of the community of Seeley Lake recorded 0.05″ overnight, and the forecast calls for another quarter of an inch at that location on Friday.

A weather station near the 53,000-acre Lolo Peak Fire south of Missoula recorded 0.16″.

weather cam nine mile
A weather cam view at Nine Mile on Interstate 90 west of Missoula, 8:30 a.m. September 15, 2017.

Some of the higher elevations in western Montana are receiving snow.

weather cam homestake pass
A weather cam view at Homestake Pass, 6,329′ elevation, on Interstate 90 southeast of Butte, MT, 9:08 a.m. September 15, 2017.

Firefighters are “backhauling” equipment on the Rice Ridge Fire, collecting items that are no longer needed and taking them back to the incident base, such as fire hose, water pumps, and portable tanks.

Most of the weather stations in the southern Black Hills where the Beaver and Rankin Fires are burning have received about a third of an inch of rain as of 10 a.m. on Friday, but one station northeast of Newcastle, WY measured almost three-quarters of an inch. Some firefighting resources, including crews and engines, were released from these two fires late in the day Thursday.

Photos of the Beaver Fire in South Dakota

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , , , 3 Comments on Photos of the Beaver Fire in South Dakota

Above: An MD-87, probably Tanker 103, drops on the Beaver Fire west of Wind Cave National Park September 13, 2017. Photo by Herb Ryan used with permission.

(Originally published at 10:37 a.m. MDT September 14, 2017)

Herb Ryan of the Custer Free Press gave us permission to use these excellent photos he took September 13 at the Beaver Fire which is burning west of Wind Cave National Park in southwest South Dakota.

(More information about the Beaver Fire and the nearby Rankin Fire.)

The photo above is spectacular. It is a close-up of one of the most recently converted air tankers, an MD-87, dropping on the fire.

This is how he described getting the shot:

I was waiting for this and it broke out [of the] heavy smoke and this is the one full image I shot. Was on the back side of the fire with a Canon 7D and a 70-200 f2.8 on the camera cranked all the way down to 70mm.

The photos below are also courtesy of Mr. Ryan.

Beaver Fire firefighters

Beaver Fire

Beaver Fire blackhawk helicopter

Beaver Fire

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The photos above were shot on September 13 when there was a great deal of activity on the Beaver Fire. Today, September 14, firefighters are no longer battling a spreading fire, they are improving fire line, burning out, mopping up, and patrolling to make sure it does not jump up and run again.

Bill Gabbert took the next batch of photos September 14. (Click a photo to see larger versions.)

Rankin Fire expands to over 1,000 acres while the Beaver Fire grows nearby

Author Bill GabbertPosted on Categories UncategorizedTags , , 2 Comments on Rankin Fire expands to over 1,000 acres while the Beaver Fire grows nearby

Above: An MD-87 air tanker maneuvers through the smoky air over the Beaver Fire just outside Wind Cave National Park, September 13, 2017. Photo by Bill Gabbert.

(UPDATED at 7:51 p.m. MDT September 14, 2017)

Thursday night there were enough openings in the clouds for satellites to get a pretty good look at the Rankin Fire in Wind Cave National Park in southwest South Dakota and the new fire first reported Wednesday afternoon west of the park, the Beaver Fire.

This new fire is near the intersection of Beaver Creek and Flynn Creek Roads in the Black Hills National Forest not far from the old Cold Springs School. It slowed overnight and Thursday afternoon was estimated at 350 acres. No structures are reported burned and the cause is still under investigation. At this time there are no mandatory evacuations. Firefighters will be conducting controlled burning operations on Thursday to help secure portions of the perimeter.

The size of the Rankin Fire is now estimated at 2,133 acres.

The map below shows the locations of the two fires. The red, brown, and yellow dots represent heat detected by a satellite. The red dots, the most recent, were seen at 3:37 a.m. MDT September 14, 2017.

Rankin Beaver fire south dakota
Map showing the location of the Rankin and Beaver Fires. The red, brown, and yellow dots represent heat detected by a satellite. The red dots were seen at 3:37 a.m. MDT September 14, 2017. Click to enlarge.

The weather forecast for the fire area calls for a nearly 100 probability of rain Thursday night, with a chance of additional showers through noon on Saturday. The total rainfall could be more than 0.6 inch, which would be enough to slow the spread of the two fires to a crawl, at least temporarily, but not enough to put them out. It should reduce the smoke in the Pringle and Hot Springs areas.

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(Originally published at 12:05 a.m. MDT September 14, 2017.)

Influenced again by erratic winds generated by scattered thunderstorms, the Rankin Fire in the northeast corner of Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota continued to grow Tuesday night and Wednesday, blackening another 432 acres to bring the total up to 1,192 acres, according to the Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Center in Rapid City.

More firefighters are pouring into the area as a Type 2 Incident Management Team is getting prepared to assume command of the fire Thursday morning. On Wednesday two large air tankers, converted MD-87 airliners, dropped water or retardant on the fire accompanied by two helicopters, a Bell 407 and a “Firehawk” Sikorsky S70A.

Another fire was discovered at about 2 p.m. Wednesday about 2.5 miles east of the Rankin Fire just outside the National Park boundary in the Black Hills National Forest. Named the Beaver Fire for the nearby road and creek of the same name, it grew rapidly as the MD-87’s and firefighters on the ground attempted to limit the spread. By Wednesday night it was estimated to have covered about 140 acres. It is four miles east of Pringle and 12 miles north of Hot Springs.

We saw two Hotshot Crews arriving at the fires Wednesday, the Craig and the Alpine Hotshots, both from Colorado, at about the same time a fire engine arrived from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. Likely there are many other crews, engines, and logistical resources that have arrived or are en route.

(Click on a photo below to see larger versions. The captions are at the top.)

More photos of aircraft on the fire are at FireAviation.com.

On Wednesday the weather station at Elk Mountain in Wind Cave National Park recorded a high of 89 degrees, relative humidity in the 20’s, and southwest to southeast winds of 4 to 15 mph gusting at 16 to 28. Under those conditions wildfires are likely to continue to spread unless they run out of fuel.

The forecast Thursday for the fire area will not be as conducive to rapid fire growth since the humidity is expected to rise during the day from about 40 percent in the morning to over 60 percent by sundown, with the chance for rain increasing during that period from 6 percent to 39 percent. As the chance for rain continues, by Friday evening there could be about 3/10 of an inch of rain in the area with another 0.05 inch by Saturday night. The wind Wednesday night and Thursday will be from the northwest, north, and northeast, which could push smoke into Hot Springs.