Quick Response By Area Firemen Keeps Acreage To A Minimum In Smith Falls Road Fire
- 5 days ago
- 1 min read
Just after 2pm, the Valentine Volunteer Fire Department responded to the report of a large, fast moving fire in the canyon area south of Highway 12 just off of Smith Falls Road. A quick response in addition to mutual aid response kept the acres burned at a minimum. The Valentine firemen were assisted by Springview, Mission, Kilgore, Cody, Ainsworth, and Woodlake departments. The state of Nebraska also made their Nebraska Forest Service hand crew available. Air suppression also made a big difference in battling the fire in rough canyon terrain. The Cherry County Hospital Ambulance Service provided standby medical service.
According to Valentine Fire Chief Terry Engels, the state’s hand crew was still on scene Tuesday morning, as well as a Valentine tanker that was providing water. Otherwise, fire crews returned to the fire hall at about 10pm Sunday night.
The acreage of the fire was not yet determined, but it was estimated to be between 10-15 acres and was likely sparked by lightning from the system that moved through the area Saturday night and Sunday morning.
At one point after 4pm, a brief evacuation from Smith Falls State Park was reported, but that was lifted a short time later.
There were some cabins and a residence that were threatened by the blaze, but firemen were able to protect all of the structures in the path of the fire.
