Veteran Wildfire Mitigation Crew

Rapid City Veteran Training and Wildfire Mitigation

Veteran crew poses after a training 

The Rapid City Fire and Parks Departments work together on the Rapid City Veteran Training and Wildfire Mitigation program. The program, started June 14, 2013, is part of the city's successful Survivable Space Initiative, which focuses on the removal of hazardous fuels associated with wildfires. Wildfire is a constant threat every year in the Black Hills, and, programs like these help communities like Rapid City reduce the threat of a catastrophic fire event in areas where neighborhoods are mixed with natural vegetative fuels.  

Our veteran crews assists the city of Rapid City with wildfire preparedness in hazardous fuel removal and receive training in areas of fire fighting, emergency preparedness, equipment operation, forestry, parks, and public education.  

Under the city's Urban Interface Management Plan, the Fire Department and Parks Department work together to battle mountain pine beetle infestations in the city and tackle hazardous fuel reduction for wildfire.  An every growing problem, and one where manpower and funds are a premium, the BLM Community Assistance Program greatly assists in this effort.                                Veteran crews working to remove dead trees and underbrush.
   Project in progress. Left trees are overcrowded and right are well spaced. 

A project in process. The Veteran Crew has not worked on the trees on the left and have finished working on the trees on the right. This heavy fuel loading has a catastrophic wildfire potential. The treated area on the right provides a safety benefit for both residents and firefighters in our community. Without funding from program like the BLM Wildfire Community Assistance program, the massive amount of work to remove this hazardous fuel would prove extremely difficult.

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