Lightning sparks fire in Custer State Park

By Bill Harlan, Journal Staff Writer | Thursday, April 20, 2006

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While the northern Black Hills battled a major blizzard Wednesday, firefighters battled a lightning-caused forest fire in the southern Black Hills.

The Middle Fork Fire started late Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday afternoon, it had burned 80 acres in Custer State Park, state wildland fire coordinator Joe Lowe said.

Three hand crews were working the fire cautiously because of high winds and standing dead trees in the area.

“It’s a wind-driven fire,” Lowe said. Burning embers were starting spot fires as far as a quarter mile from the main fire.

The Middle Fork Fire is on the west side of Iron Mountain Road, in the rugged Bear Gulch area. The fire was burning through timber, dead timber, brush and grass in an area that burned in 1988 in the big Galena Fire.

Lowe said firefighters hoped to have the fire 20 percent contained Wednesday night.

Although part of the Northern Hills got more than 3 feet of snow Tuesday and Wednesday, Lowe said, the area of the fire had received only about a tenth of an inch of precipitation, and not much more was expected Wednesday night.

The State Department of Corrections said 17 state prison inmates and staff from the Rapid City Minimum Security Unit were helping to fight the fire. All of the inmates and staff are trained and certified firefighters, the department said.

Lowe said that ultimately, the fire could be beneficial, clearing out forest debris and smaller trees that could be a much bigger fire hazard later in the summer.

Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com