Let's hope there's never another one like Jasper Fire

It's been just about 10 years to the day when the largest fire in recorded history of the Black Hills started just west of Custer. For those of us living in Custer County and Hill City in Pennington County, it came way too close for comfort.

It all started with a Newcastle woman stopping her van by the side of Highway 16 west of Custer early one Friday afternoon. Janice Stevenson said she never intended to start a large fire. She just wanted to start a small one to watch it burn. The only trouble was there was a wind that day that initially pushed the fire to the north and then switched to the south which caused it to jump Highway 16 and threaten the structures at Jewel Cave National Monument.

There were some heroic firefighting efforts to foam the buildings at Jewel Cave and protect them from any fire damage. That was a small miracle in itself, but the largest miracle was yet to come the next day. Prevailing westerly winds would normally have pushed the fire toward the Limestone Country to the east, where there are many dwellings, and to Custer itself. Plans were quickly made to evacuate the entire community of Custer. The wind made a dramatic switch on Saturday by changing direction from blowing to the south to blowing to the north. The wind hardly ever comes out of the south in the Black Hills.

And north it burned all day Saturday, consuming an enormous chunk of 48,000 acres of Black Hills National Forest in a matter of just a few hours. When the fire was finally contained days later, it had burned an incredible 83,508 acres of timber and grassland. But no homes or lives were lost, which is the third miracle. Conditions were ripe for a fire of this magnitude. All it needed was a source, which was arson, and a strong wind. The rest is history.

There are many stories that came out of the Jasper Fire suppression efforts. Fire engines from all over South Dakota and Minnesota responded to stand by structures and save them from burning. Volunteer fire departments from near and far responded to help save our buildings. At one time there were 1,200 firefighters camped in a tent city near Four Mile west of Custer. The logistics of taking care of these people is a story in itself and was handled in the end by a very capable and experienced Incident Command Team that pulled all the various agency resources together.

We were extremely lucky to have the Jasper Fire end the way it did with just a small loss of a few outbuildings and no loss of lives or homes. To be sure, there were some close calls involving firefighters and houses, but none were lost in the fast-moving fire. We owe a debt of gratitude to our local, state and federal fire fighting units who responded quickly to help contain the fire. The S.D. Army National Guard also played a significant role by providing helicopter and heavy equipment support.

As we look back at the Jasper Fire of 10 years ago, we realize we live just a short distance from a virtual tinderbox in the form of the 

13,425-acre Black Elk Wilderness Area which has been devastated by pine beetles. This area is under the control of the U.S. Forest Service and is surrounded by the 35,000-acre Norbeck Wildlife Preserve in Custer State Park. Local officials know it is just a matter of time before a fire breaks out in this wilderness area. It’s not even a matter of if a fire will occur there, but when it will happen.

That would be a disaster for sure, especially if it couldn’t be contained to that area. We can see that if man doesn’t manage the forest properly, nature will take over in the form of pine beetles or fire. One way or another, the forest will be thinned and rejuvenated, just as the area affected by the Jasper Fire is coming back to life once again.

Let’s hope we never again have to experience a fire the magnitude of Jasper in the Black Hills. Next time we may not be so lucky.