Fire restrictions start to lift

To the surprise of few but the relief of many, fire restrictions are now being lightened across the county.

Shortly after last week’s snowstorm, Fire Warden Charlie Harrison announced that the county burn ban was to be temporarily suspended until November 5.

“The ban will be discussed at the commissioners’ meeting to determine if it will be suspended or modified to meet conditions,” he said.

Following a 120-acre fire next to Keyhole State Park on the weekend, which Harrison says was caused by a controlled burn on private land that escaped, the fire warden intends to drop back to stage one fire restrictions, rather than lift the burn ban entirely, if the county commissioners concur.

Meanwhile, stage two fire restrictions on the Black Hills National Forest were lifted on Friday, ending a special order that had been in place since October 1 that prohibited the use of open fire on all lands administered by the Black Hills National Forest.

However, although the cooler weather and moisture has reduced the fire danger, the conditions are still dryer than usual and the U.S. Forest Service is still asking forest visitors to recreate safely to prevent human-caused fires.

Stage 1 fire restrictions remain in effect on the the South Dakota side of the Black Hills National Forest year-round. These prohibit building or maintaining a fire or campfire unless it is in an approved fire ring.