Firefighters battling a wildfire near South Dakota's second-largest city received a fortunate turn of events on Wednesday, thanks to the weather. The First Thunder Fire was first reported on Monday just a few miles from Rapid City, a community with 80,000 residents near Black Hills National Forest. As of Tuesday evening, residents in an evacuation warning area were advised to prepare for potential evacuation.
The fire, which had spread across nearly 160 acres, was exacerbated by unusually hot and dry weather conditions. On Tuesday, Rapid City experienced a high temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35.6 Celsius), significantly above the normal early-September high of 75 degrees (23.9 Celsius), accompanied by gusty winds reaching 45 mph.
