Grass Fire Threatens Rapid City National Weather Service Office
On Tuesday, July 18, 2006 a grass fire started near the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City. Within a few minutes, wind-whipped flames raced up a hill toward the National Weather Service office and burned within 30 feet of the building. The office was evacuated for a short time. The Rapid City Fire Department and several neighboring volunteer departments responded quickly and were able to contain the grass fire. No structures were damaged and no people were injured.
Several National Weather Service employees took pictures of the event. Larger versions of selected images can be viewed by clicking on the links below.
- Hillside on fire. (Image Courtesy Bob Retzlaff - NWS Employee)
- Fire truck in front of hillside on fire. (Image Courtesy Dave Carpenter - NWS Employee)
- Airplane drops fire retardant on hillside. (Image Courtesy Dave Carpenter - NWS Employee)
- Fire truck battles fire. (Image Courtesy Dave Carpenter - NWS Employee)
Above image courtesy Melissa Smith (NWS Employee).
The following images were taken by Bob Retzlaff (NWS Employee).
The following images were taken by Dave Carpenter (NWS Employee).
The following images were taken by Eric Kurth (NWS Employee).
Return to News Archive
