McGee Fire - Updated
Date Reported: December 19, 2024, 12:15am
Location: 5 miles SW of Rapid City, SD
Size: 46.2 acres
Resources Responded: Local, State, and Federal
Cause: Unknown
Status: as of 0800 Dec 20, 50% contained.
Gordon Fire
Date Reported: December 19, 2024, 3:31am
Location: 1 mile SW of Sheridan Lake
Size: 13.4 acres
Resources Responded: Local, State, and Federal
On 12/10/2024, South Dakota Wildland Fire will be conducting
a pile burn in the area of Elk Creek Road and Little Elk Creek Road near
Deadwood, SD 2 miles east of HWY 385.
Ignitions will begin the morning of Tuesday, 12/10/2024 and
may continue through Friday, 12/13/2024. The project is 4 acres of privately
owned forested property that was fuels reduced in the summer of 2022. There are
96 total hand piles on the project.
Possible areas of smoke impact are Elk Creek Rd, Little Elk
Creek Rd, and Coyote Ridge Rd.
Media Contact:
Scott Jacobson, Public Affairs Officer
(605) 440-1409
Custer, S.D., December 9, 2024 — With the recent snowfall across the Black Hills National Forest, Ranger Districts will begin burning thousands of hand and machine slash piles. Piles are created from timber sale slash and tree thinning operations.
Piles are only ignited when managers are confident that the project can be undertaken safely with considerations to snow cover, wind, temperature, available staffing, and smoke dispersal. Public and firefighter safety is always the number-one priority in all burning operations. Firefighters continually monitor and check the piles for several days after they have been lit.
“It is very important to reduce fire and insect hazards by reducing fuel buildup,” said Jason Virtue, Black Hills National Forest Fire Management Officer. “We appreciate the support from the communities. Being able to reduce these fuels this time of year makes fire suppression operations safer during the summer months.”
Smoke will be visible and may impact local communities across the Black Hills for the next several months. Smoldering material may continue to burn days after burning operations are completed.
For
more pile burning information and notifications, follow the Black Hills
National Forest on the Great Plains Fire Information page: http://gpfireinfo.blogspot.com/,
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackhillsnf and/or Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlackHillsNF
For
more information on the Black Hills National Forest, visit www.fs.usda.gov/blackhills.
###
Marie Fire
Date Reported: December 7, 2024
Location: 1 mile N of Fort Pierre
Size: 1.0 acre
Resources Responded: State
Cause: Human
Current Status| Contained
Twin Lake Fire
Date Reported: December 7, 2024
Location: 9 Miles NW of Fort Pierre
Size: 0.10 acres
Resources Responded: Federal
Cause: Human
Current Status: Out
Blue Bell Fire
Date Reported: November 20, 2024
Location: Near Blue Bell Campground in Custer State Park
Size: 0.59 acres
Resources Responded: State, Local, and Federal
Cause: Human caused
Current Status: Forward Progress Stopped.
Mile Marker 20 Fire
Date Reported: November 21, 2024
Location: 2 miles NW of Whitewood, SD
Size: 0.25 acres
Resources Responded: Local, State, and Federal
Cause: Unknown
Current Status: Contained
The Bureau of Land Management plans to conduct a prescribed burn on the Fort Meade Recreation Area Thursday November 14, 2024. This 240-acre burn is planned near the Fort Meade Reservoir north of Highway 34. Smoke may be visible from Interstate 90, State Highway 34, State Highway 79, and the city of Sturgis. Burning will be completed in one day but smoke may be visible for multiple days after ignition is completed.
Prescribed fire projects require an extensive planning process to determine prescription parameters based off local knowledge, subject matter experts, as well as accepted scientific and computer-based modeling.
Burning will only take place when weather conditions are conducive to safe operations. Fire officials will monitor the current and forecasted weather to determine if conditions will remain favorable. The BLM will contact local authorities prior to any burning taking place.
Burn objectives are to reduce hazardous fuels accumulations, reduce ponderosa pine stand densities, and restore a more balanced pine-savanna habitat. Reducing plant litter, decadent grass, and fuel accumulations will also lower the likelihood or intensity of future wildfires in the area. Prescribed fire also encourages new growth in forage for wildlife and cattle, maintains many plant and animal species whose habitats depend on periodic fire, removes unwanted species that threaten species native to an ecosystem, and recycles nutrients back to the soil.
For additional information call the South Dakota Field Office at 605-892-7000.
For updates before, during, and after prescribed burning operations, you can follow us on Facebook at Bureau of Land Management – Montana/Dakotas or on Twitter @BLM_MTDKs.
