Custer State Park fire spreads rapidly
Lucia Roda stood in her backyard early Wednesday morning, watching flames shoot up in the dark. A spreading wildf ire in western South Dakota engulfed the hills not far from the Spanish mustang preserve she manages.
Roda’s family got a morning evacuation notice in Buffalo Gap, but they decided to remain rather than chance moving 34 horses in the dark. The family took the “calculated risk” to wait until light so it would be safer, Roda said.
“Last night at about 3 in the morning, it was a little hairy and a little scary,” said Roda. “I don’t think I’ve ever done something quite that scary.”
The wildfire in South Dakota’s popular Custer State Park grew rapidly Wednesday, pushing beyond the park’s borders and threatening nearby communities of Fair- burn and Buffalo Gap. But evacuation orders for those cities eventually were lifted.
The fire in the Black Hills park, which is just south of Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the state’s southwest, grew from about 6 square miles Tuesday to about 55 square miles Wednesday, spreading to about 73 square miles at night, according to park officials.
The fire is 10 percent contained. Lydia Austin, a park spokeswoman, said officials don’t expect another night of rapid growth.
The Rapid City Journal reported it’s among the largest wildfires in modern Black Hills history. No one has been injured by the blaze, which started Monday.
“From hearing the briefing this morning, a lot of these firefighters say they haven’t seen anything like this fire in 10 to 20 years,” said Kobee Stalder, the park’s visitor services program manager. “A lot of people are comparing this to a midsummer fire.”
Some fences and outbuildings have burned, but none of the park’s main buildings have been destroyed. Crews have succeeded in protecting the popular State Game Lodge and Blue Bell Lodge.
The park is home to a herd of about 1,300 buffalo, and park officials tweeted Wednesday that they’d be checking on the wellbeing of the herd and other animals along its popular wildlife loop road.
The fire’s spread through the southeastern end of the park put wildlife in danger, but the officials said they don’t know of any animal deaths.