Preventing wildfires means starting controlled fires now

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Safety is the number one priority when it comes to fire.

"You know we've got protocols in place, we've got a plan, we've got good communications. Everybody's chatting on the radio. One ignition squad was talking to the other. We've got a lot of overhead lots of people paying attention to what's going on," says Chris Stover, an assistant fire management officer for fuels at Mystic Ranger District Black Hills National Forest, about crews working on a prescribed fire Wednesday.

The Black Hills National Forest is working to make sure that the dried trees and plants left over from the 2002 Battle Creek Fire won't become fuel for potential wildfires in the future.

"If we can put moderate severity fire on the ground, under these conditions, under conditions that we choose to burn under, we're going to increase the safety for the folks that live here as well as the emergency responders," says Stover.

Without human intervention, this area would have wildfires to maintain the forest but left unchecked those fires can be devastating for people living nearby.

"Fire is good for a Ponderosa Pine environment, however, I believe that all of us would agree that a high severity crown fire is not good for anybody," Stover says.

With an ecosystem that depends on fires to thrive, controlled fires like this one help to maintain the forest and to reduce the risk of wild fires.

"Grass will come back very very green, it'll be greener on this hill side than anyplace else next spring. That I can guarantee you. It's good for wildlife because that black, that ash really adds to the nutrients for the grass and the shrubs and such up there," says Stover.

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