January 23, 2023 - Pile Burning

Black Hills National Forest

• Northern Hills will be burning piles for the next several weeks as conditions permit, north and south of Galena Road/west of Vanocker Canyon. They will also be burning hand piles in the Star of the West project located west of Nemo Road off of Merritt Estes Road.

• Hell Canyon (southern hills) will be burning approx. 50-100 small machine piles, 15 miles northeast of Newcastle, WY over the next couple of days. Smoke may be visible.

January 19, 2023 Pile Burning

 Black Hills National Forest

Over the next couple of weeks as conditions permit, Bearlodge fire is planning to burn around 200 acres of machine and hand piles in the Blacktail area down Huseby Road.

January 17 & 18, 2023 - Pile Burning

Black Hills National Forest

With recent snowfall, Forest Managers are continuing to reduce hazardous fuels across the Black Hills National Forest.

Mystic (Central Hills)

• Crews continue to burn in the Lyons project area located southeast of Black Fox campground & northwest of Deerfield Reservoir. Crews will evaluate conditions for future ignitions throughout the week.

Northern Hills

• Starting tomorrow, Jan. 18, 2023, and continuing for up to two weeks (depending on conditions), Northern Hills fire is planning to burn piles west of Hwy 85 and north of Deadwood, SD, near Mount Roosevelt Friendship Tower.

• Crews will be burning about 50-75 hand piles located off of Vanocker Canyon Road near Vet’s Peak and north of Bethlehem Cave Road. Smoke will be visible from the highway.

Bearlodge (Northeast WY)

• Firefighters are checking piles adjacent to Forest Service Road (FSR) 838 in the Little Fawn project area to see if there is proper snow depth before ignition. If conditions are good, smoke will be visible from Highway 24.

January 11, 2023 - Pile Burning

 Black Hills National Forest

Northern Hills fire will be burning five hand piles in the Strawberry Hill Picnic area off of Hwy 385 south of Deadwood, tomorrow, Jan. 12, 2023.

January 9, 2023

Juniper Fire

Reported: 3:05 PM, January 9, 2023

Location: 3 miles North of J0hnson Siding, SD

Size: 0.1 acre

Resources responded: Federal, state, and local

Cause: Human Caused

 Black Hills National Forest

Bearlodge fire is planning to burn piles, conditions permitting, this week adjacent to Forest Service Road 838. Smoke will be visible from Highway 24. Crews will confirm there is proper snow depth before ignition.

Starting tomorrow, 1/10/23, and conditions permitting, Northern Hills Fire is planning to burn hand piles in the Engelwood & Strike project areas. The Englewood project is located off of Rochford Road and County Road 227. The Strike pile burning project is located off of Benchmark Road and FS Road 153.2G.

Nebraska National Forest

The Bessey Ranger District is burning small hand piles along 212 N. Road near Natick Campground within a 100 acre area starting today and will continue tomorrow as conditions allow.  

January 4, 2023 - Pile Burning

 Black Hills National Forest

Bearlodge Fire (Sundance, WY) will be burning approximately 500 hand piles today (1/4) through tomorrow (1/5), 10 miles southeast of Sundance. They will also be burning piles 8 miles north of HWY 24 along Forest Service Road 830.

Northern Hills Fire is planning to burn up to 150 machine piles, as snow permits, over the next few weeks. The piles are located on the north and south side of the Galena Road, approximately 2 miles west of the Galena Road and Vanocker Canyon junction.

January 3, 2023

• Black Hills National Forest Northern Hills fire (Spearfish, SD) will be burning a mix of hand and machine piles in Spearfish Canyon, starting this week and throughout the winter, as conditions permit. Crews are working to reduce surface fuels from past tornado events in the Canyon, with particular attention to important values at risk (homes, watersheds, etc.). The piles are located between Cheyenne Crossing and Savoy along HWY 14A.

• Mystic Fire (central Black Hills) will begin burning piles, if favorable conditions exist, tomorrow, Jan. 4, 2023 in the Whitetail, Lyons and Solomon timber sale areas located southeast of Black Fox campground & northwest of Deerfield Reservoir.

 Pile Burning to begin soon on the Black Hills National Forest

Custer, S.D., January 3, 2023 — With the recent snowfall across the Black Hills National Forest, Ranger Districts will be focusing efforts on 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.

The USDA Forest Service has recently completed a 90-day nationwide operational pause and program review of protocols, decision support tools and practices related to the implementation of prescribed fire. This pause has allowed us time to identify and immediately implement program improvements to ensure firefighters have the resources, tools and support needed to safely carry out this important work. The lessons we’ve learned, driven by the best available science, will be implemented before we resume our prescribed fire program.

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.

 

###

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.