HOT SPRINGS - Firefighters on Sunday battled to contain a wildfire southwest of Hot Springs that killed one resident, injured two firefighters and destroyed 27 homes and more than 50 outbuildings.
The Alabaugh Canyon Fire, which grew to 4,890 acres by 5:30 p.m. Sunday, drove almost 100 residents from more than 50 homes in the picturesque area along S.D. Highway 71, from Hot Springs southwest to Cascade Falls.
Some residents said they barely escaped the flames
Fire officials estimated the fire was 20 percent contained by Sunday evening. Joe Lowe, coordinator of the state Wildland Fire Suppression Division, said crews were making progress, despite difficult conditions.
Fall River County Sheriff Jeff Tarrell said the man killed in the fire had gone back to his residence to get something. Tarrell said he would not release the man's identity until today.
One observer said many of the homes in the fire's path were burned to the ground, smoke still rolling off their foundations Sunday.
One surviving house had a rocked-in border surrounding it like a moat.
Lightning started the fire at 7:44 p.m. Saturday evening in Alabaugh Canyon, west of Highway 71.
At one point during the night, the fire roared across three-fourths of a mile in 20 to 25 minutes, Tarrell said. "It just blew."
Fire officials said the north end of the fire is about 3-1/2 miles from Hot Springs along S.D. Highway 71 and extends down to Cascade Falls about 10 miles southwest of town. The fire is about a mile or two wide on both sides of the road, Tarrell said.
The fire still was threatening homes Sunday evening, according to Mike Weber, a Forest Service spokesman at the Northern Great Plains Joint Information Center. Weber said a cautionary evacuation order was issued about 5:30 p.m. for the Old Highway 18 area in Chilson Canyon farther to the southwest.
Officials have closed the entire area to traffic.
"This is an extremely dangerous fire," Tarrell said.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, fire officials said they could not predict when they could get the fire contained.
The Alabaugh Canyon Fire had grown to 3,000 acres by Sunday morning.
Lowe said the fire was unusually hot for South Dakota, comparing it to the chaparral fires common in Southern California.
He said flames reached 100 feet long overnight.
Crews from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Park Service, state wildland fire division, and volunteer crews, along with several aircraft, battled the blaze. Volunteer crews and their engines, some from as far away as Miller and Howard, were arriving all day to join the fight. By evening, 268 people were involved in the firefighting effort, with five hand crews, 43 engines, three bulldozers, 16 water tenders, three single-engine air tankers, and one large helicopter. Two heavy air tankers also arrived shortly after noon Sunday.
Lowe said he had ordered more resources, but that with fires erupting all over the West, fire bosses are competing for equipment and crews.
Gov. Mike Rounds arrived Sunday afternoon.
Frank Carroll, with the public affairs office of the Black Hills National Forest, said two Forest Service firefighters suffered burns about 12:30 a.m. Sunday as they deployed a fire shelter. Initial reports showed the firefighters were involved in a burnout operation when the wind suddenly picked up and shifted, causing the fire to flare up.
One man suffered first- and second-degree burns on his hands and a superficial burn on his face. The other firefighter suffered superficial burns on his face.
One firefighter has been treated and released, and the other was kept at Rapid City Regional Hospital for observation, he said.
More than 100 people living along Highway 71 who had been evacuated were registered at a shelter set up at the Mueller Community Center in Hot Springs by the American Red Cross Black Hills Area Chapter.
About half of them planned to stay at the shelter, and the remainder with friends or relatives or at local motels, according to Red Cross volunteer Fredric Stephan of Pringle.
More than 500 people packed the Mueller Center on Sunday afternoon for an informational meeting with fire officials
The Red Cross is providing meals and snacks to fire victims and relief workers. Residents who have been affected by the fire who need help, including with medications, are encouraged to call 342-4010.
Federal Emergency Management Agency director David Paulison on Sunday approved South Dakota's request for a federal grant. The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of the state's eligible firefighting costs.
