RAPID CITY, S.D. – Fire crews have reached 75% containment on the lines of the Silver Mountain Fire.
Overnight, firefighters staffed and patrolled the line to ensure the fire did not cross the established boundary. The size of the fire remained at 22 acres.
Today, firefighters will continue to strengthen control lines and mop-up near the fire’s edge. Mopping up makes a fire safer by extinguishing or removing burning and hazardous material within or close to the fire’s edge. Mop-up is hard, dirty, and tedious work that includes looking for smokes or hot spots in what otherwise looks like a cold area, and then extinguishing them.
Firefighters mop-up by dousing any remaining flames or embers and removing burning material near the control lines. They stir and drown any hot areas that are still smoking. Snags or trees may be felled because of fire inside their trunk or danger of falling. Logs may be trenched to prevent rolling, particularly rolling outside the fire control lines. This job requires firefighters to venture some 100-300 feet inside control lines to attack any remaining hot spots.
This work starts as soon as possible after control lines are built and eventually progresses all the way around a fire’s perimeter. The fire is not out completely until mop-up is done and the fire’s outer edge is cold to the touch – firefighters literally feel the ashes with their bare hands to ensure all heat is gone. Mop-up can last for days after the last active flame along the control line has been extinguished. Stumps can burn for a long time. A single, undetected, burning ember could rekindle the fire and wipe out all previous firefighting efforts.
The National Weather US National Weather Service Rapid City South Dakota has issued a Red Flag Warning for today through Saturday. With winds 15 to 30 mph and gusts up to 45 mph this afternoon paired with minimum relative humidity 10-20%, we’re urging the public to be extremely careful with all ignition sources.
