Firefighters in the Black Hills are attacking a fire that was discovered at 11:19 Wednesday morning in Custer State Park six miles south of Mount Rushmore. The Mine Draw Fire had grown to 150 acres by 4:30 p.m. and was being attacked by firefighters on the ground and in the air north of Highway 16A and east of Highway 87.

The blaze is west of the Custer State Park maintenance shop on the north side of 87 and seven miles east of Custer. Map showing the location of the Mine Draw Fire June 24, 2020.Scott Jacobson, a spokesperson for the Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Centre said firefighting resources working on the fire included fire engines from several agencies, dozers, and the Tatanka Hotshots.

A variety of firefighting aircraft were seen over the fire Wednesday afternoon:Two large air tankers: T-02, a BAe-146; and T-162, an RJ85; they were dispatched from Pueblo, CO and Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver, respectively. Three Single Engine Air tankers, all Air Tractor 802s;Two helicopters, a Sikorsky S-61A and an Airbus AS50; Plus a lead plane and air attack.The air tankers were refilling with retardant the Rapid City Air Tanker Base at the Regional Airport.

Aircraft over the Mine Draw Fire at 4:39 p.m. MDT June 24, 2020.The Black Hills are in a moderate drought, and the weather Wednesday has been on the high side of moderate from a firefighters’ point of view. Since the fire started, the weather station not far away at the Custer State Park airport has recorded temperatures in the mid 80s, relative humidity around 30 percent, and winds out of the east or northeast at 4 to 8 mph gusting at 12 to 16 mph. The Mount Rushmore area in the Black Hills of South Dakota is currently in “Moderate Drought.”