WALL, S.D. – Fire crews say they have contained a large grass fire that began Wednesday afternoon at the Cheyenne River in extreme southeastern Meade County near the Pennington County line.
The fire was near the community of Pedro, about 60 miles north of Wall. It was reported just after 2:30 p.m.
Pennington County Fire spokesman says the fire was sparked by farm machinery.
He said the containment lines and early prep work kept the fire on the Meade County side of the Cheyenne River.
He expects the fire to most likely be done by the end of Thursday, and wants to remind everyone to be fire-wise in the coming month, because October is expected to drier, with higher temperatures. There was no exact number of the number of acres lost as of yet, but Harvey expects it’s in the thousands.
Crews were able to use the natural topography of the land to get the fire controlled.
Harvey said, at this point, there are no reports of injuries to homeowners or firefighters, or threats to ranching assets.
***THIS IS AN UPDATE TO OUR PREVIOUS STORY BELOW***
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Firefighters from multiple agencies were battling a large grass fire at the Cheyenne River near the community of Pedro north of Wall Wednesday afternoon.
Fire officials say the fire was burning in extremely rugged terrain.
In a late night update, fire crews reported they were able to keep the fire pinned to the north side of the river and was 60-percent contained. It is estimated to have burned over 1,000 acres.
More than 20 agencies in three counties responded to the fire and the Quinn Fire Department reported why will patrol ranches along the south side of the river.
Ranches on the south side of the river were taking precautions to help contain the fire.
