Firefighters are battling more than one wildfire on the South Dakota/Wyoming line.
At least eight fires popped up in the heat of the day Tuesday from recent lightning strikes. Heavy air tankers and helicopters are working to snuff out the flames while firefighters focus their efforts on building a line around the Whoop Up Fire, which is the largest, and has been burning since early Monday morning.
In the heat of the day at the head of the fire Tuesday, firefighters fight fire with fire. The cause: most likely lighting. The fuel feeding it: tall grass.
"We get 30-foot flame lengths from foot high grass," said public information officer Frank Carroll.
It's radical fire behavior in what looks like green grass.
"The fuel moisture in the grass is so low that the light fuel moisture burns just like dry grass, and so that's what we're seeing," Carroll said.
The flames moved too quickly for home homeowner Mike Arp. "Grass fire caught this backside on fire. This was hot."
So hot, the stain on his house was smoking. Firefighters made an aggressive attack with fire engines and foam.
"If they hadn't showed up, yeah, we wouldn't have had a house, I'm sure," said Arp.
And it's not over. Burning stumps and smoldering pine cones still pose a risk. Sadly, the charred ground in Ferguson Canyon is the safest place. It's not the only time in 10 years it's looked that way.
"This is just about the same thing we had 10 years ago," Arp said.
"This area was burned in 2002. In fact, firefighters stood along this very road, lighting this same area on fire," said Carroll.
At more than 5,000 acres, we may have seen the worst of the Whoop Up Fire. But as history repeats itself, so will the high temperatures, erratic winds, and flashy grass fuel we find in late July.
"Very definitely the beginning of the fire season in the Black Hills," Carroll said.
Firefighters were able to contain the northeast head of the Whoop Up fire Tuesday afternoon.
A horse trailer, a utility trailer, one outbuilding, and a shed or barn has been lost.
Current Fire Incidents:
WhoopUp Fire – Type II team assigned– not contained – 5000+ acres
Schenk 1 Fire – controlled – Schenk Canyon - 1.5 acres
Schenk 2 Fire – controlled – Schenk Canyon – 1/10th acre
Hell Canyon Fire – controlled - 1/10th acre
458 Fire – controlled – 1/10th acre
Barrel Fire – not contained – 40+ acres
Sawmill Springs – not contained - 5 acres
Incident 11 not named or contained – near Jewel Cave National Monument – 1/10th acre
For more information: www.inciweb.org or www.forestphoto.com or www.fs.usda.gov/blackhills.
