— A wind-whipped wild fire has closed Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Custer County Emergency Management Chief Mike Carter says the fire is burning near Legion Lake.“..close the park for the public safety right now. You have very erratic winds down here on the fire, and it’s a little hard to tell where it might come out at..”
Carter says dry conditions have been building in the area for years, so the country is “really ripe” for a fire.
As of Monday afternoon, at least 2,500 acres had burned. Some evacuations in the park have been ordered and major roads into the park have been closed.
Carter says smoke is clearly visible. “There is a very sizable plume cloud. Some of the areas of fire are in stand timber, It’s going to put out some pretty dark smoke….visible from quite a ways away.”
Firefighters from all over the Hills are battling the flames. Carter says he’s thankful the area is sparsely populated compared to southern California, battling destructive wild fires.
(This is a developing story)
From: KELO’s Mark Russo
