RAPID CITY, S.D. – It was a very busy night for the Rapid City Fire Department, who report responding to six fires between 6:00 p.m. Tuesday and 5:00 a.m. Wednesday.
According to a press release from the Rapid City Fire Department, the first call came in right before 6 p.m. as a structure fire on Cleveland Street. Crews could see smoke upon arrival and were able to get a quickly knock it down. This ended up being a cooking fire, where hot oil, that caught fire, spread to the wall, causing heavy smoke damage throughout the home.
The next call came in shortly after 7 p.m. for another structure fire in an apartment building off of Catron Boulevard. This was another cooking fire, but no damage was done.
The third call came in shortly after 11 p.m. as a grass fire behind Starbucks on West Main Street. Two homes were threatened as the fire moved towards James Warren Drive. Crews were able to get ahead of the fire before it jumped the road. This was a wind driven fire burning approximately 1 acre of land.
While crews were on that call, another call came in at 12:30 a.m. for a grass fire on Trail View Drive. The fire was burning near power lines and the power company was called. The fire ended up burning about a half-acre of grass.
Then, at 12:55 a.m., a structure fire call came in at the Rooster on West Main Street. Fire could be seen coming from the back side of the building. Crews had to force entry on two different heavily seared doors to gain access to the fire. Although it was a quick knock down of the blaze, the wind became a problem in fighting the fire. Because of the high winds, it was pushing the fire inside the structure and crews had to be careful on where they made openings to decrease the chances of the fire spreading even further. There were no injuries and the cause remains under investigation.
Finally, shortly after 5 a.m., another call came in for a grass fire on Robbins Drive. When crews arrived, they realized it was a smoker that had been burning overnight, tossing embers around from the wind.
