The Crew at the Buffalo Chip was instrumental in putting out a prairie fire again last week, for the third time. First, there'd been a fire at the Sturgis Municipal Airport, started by a farmer’s haying equipment. The Chip's crew responded so quickly that the Chip's water trucks were on-site before even the fire department's arrival. The fire was extinguished before it burned more than an acre.
The second fire erupted last spring at a nearby campground. The crew immediately responded to the smoke, delivering much needed water to the firefighters. Ron Koan, the Chief of the Sturgis Fire Department was gracious enough to send a letter of appreciation to the Chip's crew, of which we're all very proud.
The third time the crew witnessed smoke that shouldn't have been there was about two weeks ago, on November 14th. The wind was blowing pretty strongly from the southeast and the smoke was rapidly blowing over the hill to the east of the campground. It was clearly a rapidly growing prairie fire. The crew jumped into action with the water trucks and the road grader.
The Chip's neighbor appeared to be the sole residence which might be in the fire's path. The crew bladed a fire break between the fire and the neighbor's farmstead while the flames raced past the grader. The fire was contained to the east of the rancher's home. Trained firemen arrived with trucks that refilled from the Chip's water tower. The fire was extinguished when it burned to a fire break at Alkalai Road.
The fire was started about a mile from the Chip on land that was purchased at auction several months ago by a rancher who'd sold his east Meade County ranch and reinvested in unimproved pasture. He chose a windy day in a drought-stricken grass pasture to use a portable welder and grinder to cut and weld rusty oil field pipe into a corral strong enough to hold anything but fire.
He shouldn’t have been surprised that the grass would burn and the wind would fan the flames. No homes were burned and no one was hurt. The only damages he’ll have to pay are for his neighbors’ disturbed soil, burned pasture, three hay stacks, fencing and a lot of the County's and fire departments' time and expenses. I expect he knows how lucky he is. Us, too, as the Buffalo Chip Campground was unaffected.
The attached photos are for your information. A little fire extinguisher in the trailer might have avoided the whole incident. It’s scary when a fire is headed toward you, your family and livestock. Everyone’s happy, thank God, with the good fortune.
And a special thank you to all the volunteer firemen who arrived so quickly and stayed until the last ember was extinguished.

Rod Woodruff
Buffalo Chip Campground, LLC