Belle Fourche Escaped Prescribed Fire 2013

The Belle Fourche Prescribed Fire unit is a 325 acre landscape-scale prescribed burn located within the boundaries of Devils Tower National Monument (DETO), designed to reduce the woody fuel load as well as maintain the native grass ecosystem. On May 7, 2013 the Great Plains Fire Management program, from Wind Cave National Park (WICA), which has wildland fire responsibilities for DETO, initiated ignitions on 300 acres of the unit. On May 8, 2013 the Belle Fourche prescribed burn was declared an escaped prescribed burn and converted to a wildfire. During the implementation phase of this prescribed fire, two separate incidents occurred which were contributory to the escaped prescribed burn. Early in the operational shift of May 7th, a UTV and rider were involved in a vehicle tip-over. Also on May 7th, a power line was a scorched and caused the loss of power to the National Monuments upper pumping station, which contributed to damaging the Monuments waterlines.