ROCKERVILLE, SD — Yesterday, dozens were driven from their homes in rural Rockerville as a wildfire, named the “Coyote Flats Fire” quickly spread, propagated by a long, dry winter.

The blaze quickly consumed much of the dry grass surrounding the area of the initial burn near Neck Yoke Rd. and rapidly endangered homes. Fire crews on the scene were quick to respond, however the blaze reached Rockerville’s Station 2 soon after the initial report as crews from throughout the area responded to the three-alarm call for assistance.

Rockerville Station 2, now a staging ground for containment efforts (Via Fiona Ton)

Today, the above-ground blaze appears to have been restrained significantly, with no injuries reported and property damage minimized to three outlying structures. Incident Commander Tom Roerick says that he believes the fire’s spread is contained at this moment to a 385-acre area, but that there is still a lot of work to be done, as smoldering wood and grass embers still litter the blackened landscape.

One of the more unexpected hazards of such a fire, according to Tom, are so-called “ash pits” which Roerick encouraged residents to be cautious of in coming days, and posed a significant hazard to crews on the ground at this current moment. “Trees that catch on fire and burn out the root system or parts of the tree.” said Roerick “Those are always hazardous firefighters that have the potential to tip over on firefighters while they’re out there working and mopping things up”.

Though evacuation orders have since been lifted, officials encourage the public to avoid crowding the area of the fire while crews continue to work and support continues to come in from surrounding areas. “Lots of folks want to come out and see the fire and take a look at things but it’s a narrow winding road,” said Roerick.

(left) Fire retardant protects a nearby road (right) Smoke continues to rise from seemingly tamed land (via Fiona Ton)

The fire is currently reported to be 0% contained, pending work to be done today in tightening the perimeter “crews are out working on all that trying to get everything buttoned up and secured, and then hopefully later today we’ll be able to start showing some containment on the fire” said Roerick, who said that command often errs on the side of caution when estimating containment.

The fire line, where a makeshift wall has been erected to stop the spread. (Via Fiona Ton)

With increased resources already present  in the area due to the Qury Fire further south, Roerick says he feels confident in firefighters’ ability to make headway without stretching themselves too thin as efforts continue.