Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007 12:00 am
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - The man in charge of fighting the state's wildfires said he's worried by what he saw during the 10,000-acre Alabaugh Fire near Hot Springs.
"Having witnessed the fire behavior down there, it's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when we will experience this type of fire behavior again," Wildland Fire Coordinator Joe Lowe said.
He said this could become one of the worst fire seasons on record for South Dakota.
"The fuels look like (they would in) late August, early September right now," he said. "I'm very worried about what the rest of the fire season will bring."
Frank Carroll, a spokesman for the Black Hills National Forest, said fuel indicators - indicators of the potential energy that could be released from fuels if a fire started - are at record levels for this time of year.
"From that perspective, this fire season started earlier than usual, and fire behavior has been more extreme than we would expect at this time of year," he said.
Carroll said conditions are so dry and extreme that pretty much any spark could start a fire.
"Right now, the Black Hills is like a big baked potato, baking in the sun and really heating up," he said.
Those conditions were the basis of the severity of the Alabaugh Fire, which killed one man, destroyed 33 homes and burned 10,324 acres. Lowe said the fire burned unlike most forest fires in the Black Hills.
Lowe, who has fought fires throughout the United States, said the fire's behavior reminded him of California fires. That included crown activity with 100-foot flame lengths and flame lengths of 6 to 8 feet moving through grass between 3 mph to 8 mph.
"This fire had some of the greatest intensities and rate of spread and flame lengths that I've seen while I've been in South Dakota," he said.
He said that because of the extreme danger, crews are automatically using a single-engine air tanker on any fire that breaks out, just to make sure fires are knocked down quickly.
Dave Slepnikoff, acting district ranger for the Mystic Ranger District, said people who live in heavily wooded areas should take extra precautions and be prepared to evacuate.
"What I would recommend is they (residents) have their to-go stuff in a room and ready to go, especially those out in the woods with timber and tall grass," he said. "They need to have those plastic totes already available in their homes, stocked with personal papers, family photos."