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Friday, May 8, 2026

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Grass fires take their toll in the South Riverdale area

By Riverdale Fire Department

On Saturday, May at 11:50, Riverdale Fire Department, Whitehead Fire Dept - EST 2005, Wallace Woodworth Fire and Rapid City Emergency Services all responded to a very large grass fire in the valley just off of 250 Highway at the south end of Riverdale municipality yesterday.

Crews were on scene for 12+ hours battling the blaze in multiple areas with rapidly changing wind conditions. Additional members stayed on scene overnight to put out hot spots.

Additional support was provided by many members from local colonies who assisted with water tankers, backpack blowers and provided lunch for the crew mid afternoon. Their support was very much appreciated!

Many thanks as well to Jayden Lok from Johan's Construction for spending many hours in their bulldozer creating cut lines to stop the fire from spreading further.

Thank you as well to all the local homeowners who assisted in fighting the fire and providing support and also to the Sioux Valley First Nation Safety Officers that came to assist in helping to evacuate homeowners and keep everyone safe.

Just a reminder to everyone to please not burn anything outdoors today as the winds are forecasted to be 70 km an hour or higher. Also, please do not throw any lit cigarettes out of vehicles as while the crew was on scene this morning a report of another fire came in on the east side of the highway which appears to be from a lit cigarette butt being thrown from the vehicle. If the crews had not already been on scene that would have started yet another grass fire.