Could a disaster like the Fort MacMurray wildfire happen in South Dakota?
Lieutenant Tim Weaver, Wildland Fire Mitigation, Rapid City Fire Department, and Alexa White, Deputy Director Rapid City with Pennington County Emergency Management, discuss wildfires and mitigating the risk of disasters.
Alexa White discusses why it's important to be ready to evacuate in a natural disaster.
Lieutenant Weaver talks about prevention efforts and goes over why being aware of fire danger is important.
The 1988 Westberry Trails fire burned homes and forced large evacuations near Rapid City. The 2000 Jasper Fire in the Southern Black Hills burned 80-thousand acres and is the largest Black Hills wildfire in recorded history. In 2002 the Grizzly Gulch fire forced the evacuation of the town of Deadwood. The 2013 Black Forest Fire in Colorado destroyed over 500 homes. Most recently, the Fort McMuarry wildfire that is still burning in Alberta, Canada, forced the evacuation of about 100-thousand people.
