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.
Broadcast Burn Planned Southwest of Rapid City, SD
starting Thurs. Nov. 7, 2024
Rapid City, SD, Nov. 6, 2024 — If you see a
large plume of smoke in the air starting tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024,
southwest of Rapid City, SD, please do not call 911. Fire managers are
conducting a prescribed burn west of the junction of Victoria Lake and First
Thunder Roads.
The Mystic Ranger District on the Black
Hills National Forest is planning to ignite up to 250 acres on the Victoria
Project on Thursday and Friday, weather permitting.
The Victoria Project area is located
approximately 5 miles southwest of Rapid City, SD.
We are asking forest visitors,
recreational shooters, and hunters to consider using an alternate location on
the Forest during this time to ensure the safety of our firefighters and the
public.
Smoke from the prescribed burn will be
visible throughout the day of the burn and may linger for several days.
Firefighters will be on site throughout the day of ignition and will
periodically patrol the burn for several days afterward. If you see smoke from
this burn, please refrain from calling 911.
Broadcast burns are the application of
fire to the landscape under pre-determined environmental conditions and
geographic locations. Utilizing fire gives land managers another tool to meet
resource objects.
Crews have been preparing to implement the
project for several years.
The U.S. Forest Service conducts broadcast
burns in an effort of reducing hazardous fuels and to improve wildlife habitat
and forest health. Certain criteria must be met for a broadcast burn to
take place, including smoke dispersal conditions, weather, adequate staffing,
and fuel moisture. These are all outlined in a burn plan, that is thoroughly
reviewed before implementation.
Once completed, the burn area will also
serve to lessen fire intensities from naturally ignited fires such as lightning
and provide fire managers more options and increase safety when suppressing
future fires.
Forest visitors are asked to be aware of
their surroundings. Areas where burning operations are taking place will be
signed to notify visitors. The public is also encouraged to contact a nearby Forest
Service office with questions.
For more information on the Black Hills
National Forest, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/blackhills.
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