SPEARFISH, S.D. – Spearfish firefighters knocked down a small grassfire Sunday at the Spearfish Rifle and Pistol Range.
At approximately 4:11 p.m. on Sunday, individuals at the range, located off Spearfish Canyon Highway, reported they saw individuals on the pistol side of the range shooting up into the hillside, which sparked two small grassfires.
The Spearfish Fire Department responded, keeping the fire spread to less than 1/10th of an acre of grass. Rimrock in the area helped limit the spread of the fire uphill. The fire was contained at approximately 5:20 p.m., and controlled at 5:45 p.m. Fire units used about 750 gallons on mopping up the fire.
Five engines and one water tender responded to the fire, with 17 personnel responding.
The fire was called “officially out” at 11:50 a.m. on Monday.
Spearfish Fire Chief Travis Ladson explained that the Spearfish Rifle and Pistol Range has done an excellent job building and maintaining a berm to ensure this type of situation does not occur when people are on the range enjoying a day of shooting. Unfortunately, because individuals chose to be negligent, shooting up into the hillside, they caused a fire to start.
“We dodged a bullet – no pun intended,” Ladson said, explaining that earlier in the day, conditions were quite windy. “Luckily, it was calm, so the conditions worked in our favor.”
He thanked all of the firefighters for their response.
