NEAR TEA, S.D. (KELO) — It has been an unusually dry winter in our area, which has been one of the reasons why wildfires have popped up throughout the state.
However, some parts of South Dakota received some much-needed rain this weekend.
From wildfires west river to a field near Tea, crews have had to battle blazes across the state in recent weeks.
“We’ve had fire issues all winter because of our lack of snow cover and moisture. Now, this spring, it has been getting a little worse. We’ve had lower humidity and a lot of wind, and that creates fire danger in a real big hurry,” Lincoln County Emergency Management coordinator Harold Timmerman said.
“I’ve been a member of the fire department in Tea for 20-plus years, 28 years, probably. I don’t recall a season that’s been this dry this early,” Tea fire chief Steven Oberle said.
The east side of South Dakota just received some moisture. In fact, some snow is still visible in a burned ditch near Tea. However, Oberle says it didn’t help much.
“Just that day, it gave us a little relief, a little sense of, okay, we can calm down for a day. But again today, if someone were to drive by and flick a cigarette out here in a ditch, it won’t take long for that to take off and run,” Oberle said.
“We’re going to ask people not to burn any tree piles or any outside open burning. If you have to burn household garbage, they can do that in a barrel and keep it contained and watch it closely. If it’s too windy, do not burn,” Timmerman said.
Because it may take some time before the looming threat of wildfires goes back down.
“When everything is green, then I’ll be comfortable that our fire danger is going down. Until then, anything you see that is brown is going to burn,” Timmerman said.
Oberle also says that if you need to have a controlled burn, you should call your local fire department to assist you.
