The Murdo Volunteer Fire Department has confirmed the death of one of their members in response to a grass fire near Draper Saturday night. The Department released a statement confirming the line-of-duty fatality on social media Sunday.
Meanwhile the South Dakota Highway Patrol has confirmed the death of 37 year-old Murdo man from a one-vehicle crash four miles north of Draper, Saturday night around 6:50 pm. According to the preliminary crash investigation the driver of a 1989 Ford Fire Tender was traveling north on 279th Street while responding to the fire. The vehicle left the road, rolled and threw the driver from the fire apparatus. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
The fire grew to approximately 12-hundred acres and forward progress of the blaze was stopped. Pierre and Fort Pierre firefighters gathered Saturday night along Sioux Avenue out of respect as an escort of the firefighter arrived in Pierre. The name of the firefighter is being withheld pending notification of family.
Courtesy of Zach Nelson-KCCR-Pierre
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