Smokejumpers trained to parachute into fires jumped into a wildfire in the Black Hills of South Dakota for the first time on Tuesday as communities around the area canceled holiday fireworks displays.
The crew of smokejumpers was summoned to battle the blaze officials are calling the Parker Peak Fire, located northeast of Edgemont. The wildfire is one of several that have ravaged 6,000 acres in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming.
Firefighters there were trying to keep their minds off the fatal crash of an Air Force air tanker Sunday that had been part of the effort.
Fall River County emergency management manager Frank Maynard said the jumpers were brought in Tuesday because the area can be inaccessible.
"There are virtually no roads. It's not straight up and down, but it's real close. Getting motorized vehicles in there is virtually impossible. Everything is going to pretty much be handwork in that whole area," he said of the fire that is nearly 800 acres and 10 percent contained. Seven structures are threatened.
The Northern Rockies Type II Incident Management Team took over management of the Parker Peak Fire on Tuesday. They are now managing that fire and the White Draw near Edgemont, the largest fire in the region at nearly 5,000 acres or 8 sq. miles. It was 50 percent contained by midday Tuesday. Nonetheless, some 50 buildings were threatened by the blaze and more crews were preparing to assist.
Incident commander Bob Fry said Tuesday afternoon that the White Draw Fire was in "pretty good shape."
"We're trying to contain today or at least get a line around today. Most of our effort is going into White Draw right now," he said.
The military confirmed Tuesday afternoon that four people had died and two others were injured when an Air Force tanker that was battling the White Draw fire crashed Sunday. The tanker was based out of North Carolina, and all the dead were from there.
The crash prompted the military to temporarily ground the seven remaining Air Force tankers used in firefighting.
Six of the tankers resumed flying Tuesday, but a seventh, which was also part of the North Carolina Air National Guard, returned to its home base.
Other fires in the region include the Highlands Fire, which has scorched about 400 acres between Newcastle, Wyo., and Custer, S.D., and was 60 percent contained, and the Soldier Fire near Beulah, Wyo., west of Spearfish, S.D., which had spread to about 5 acres and was 50 percent contained.
The Highlands Fire destroyed five structures, including two homes, but no one was reported injured, according to officials with Great Plains Fire Information.
The Black Hills chapter of the Red Cross found a motel room for one family displaced by the Highlands Fire and was preparing to open a shelter in Belle Fourche for people displaced by fires in Montana.
"We have a disaster trailer that has cots and blankets," said Dan Kuecker, regional emergency services director.
With hot, dry weather persisting, most communities in western South Dakota were calling off Fourth of July fireworks displays.
Officials in Sturgis, Hot Springs, Rapid City and Lead have all cancelled fireworks displays because of the fire danger and also because local firefighters are helping to battle the wildfires.
The Pennington County Board of Commissioners passed an emergency resolution Tuesday prohibiting the discharge of fireworks and burning outside of any municipality in Pennington County.
Fireworks have already been banned in several communities in the county, including Rapid City, Wall, Keystone and Hill City.
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