Fire burns down barn

A log barn, trailer and several vehicles were destroyed on Wednesday afternoon in a fire near the junction of Highway 328 and 200 on Wednesday.

A log barn, trailer and several vehicles were destroyed on Wednesday afternoon in a fire near the junction of Highway 328 and 200 on Wednesday.

Hot Springs Fire Department received the call at 4:13 p.m. and Sean Estill, Captain of the fire department and incident commander of the scene, said the fire mostly burned out by itself before the fire crews arrived on the scene.

"As we headed to Camas Prairie we could see a column of smoke and as we were driving, the smoke went out meaning most of the fuels had burned up and it was left to some smoldering remnants and one part of the barn," says Captain Estill.

When the crews did arrive at the scene with two fire engines, a water tender and an ambulance, they encountered another unique problem. An old wooden bridge spanning a creek leading up to the property would not support the weight of the fire engines and crews then had to scramble to drag 600 feet of hose across the bridges to the structures.

"We had to stretch about 600 feet of hose to get across the bridge and into the yard to fight the fire," said Captain Estill. "It was the first time that we've had to stretch that much hose."

The unique situation translated into a slower setup and harder work for the eight men from the Hot Springs Fire Department who responded to the fire. A fire crew consisting of two engines from the Tribal Division of Fire also responded to the fire.

After arriving on the scene, the Hot Springs Fire Department mopped up hot spots and then left the scene over to the tribal crew who stayed until dark and then continued monitoring the situation on Thursday.

Rita Payne lived at the residence, but Tribal Government owns the property. As of Thursday, there has still been no word on the cause of the fire.

Despite responding to the fire on Wednesday it has been a quiet spring and summer for the Hot Springs Fire Department.

Fire Chief Randy Woods says this structure fire was only the second fire that his crew responded to this summer. The first was a brush fire on Magera Road.

During the open burning season, usually a busy time for fire crews who need to respond to out of control controlled burns, fire crews from Hot Springs only had two or three fires.