08/13/2026
On Tuesday 08/11/2026 at 4:45pm, Batesland VFD was requested by OST Emergency Management to respond to the human-caused Flaming Ant grass fire north of Allen, sending two Type 6 brush trucks and the #6 water tender. Batesland worked alongside Martin VFD, BIA, and OSTEM to contain the fire to around 20 acres. While mopping up this fire, at 7:30pm BVFD was notified of the Deckert Fire east of Porcupine started by lightning, sending the #7 tender and four brush trucks. Martin, Vetal, Tuthill, and Scenic VFDs also responded, aided by light rain later in the evening to stop the fire at 165 acres. During this time, the #6 tender was also dispatched from Allen to Evergreen to assist with another fire started by lightning from the same storm.
After finishing up at the Deckert fire, at 11pm, Batesland was asked to send units to Manderson, where the Camelbak fire had started from lightning and was burning in thick timber. Three brush trucks were sent to Manderson to assist Bureau of Land Management and Blue Ribbon Firefighting units, working through the night to keep the fire at 30 acres. BVFD was relieved by Fairburn VFD and OSTEM units the next morning, finally returning to the station at 12:30pm Wednesday afternoon. However, a couple hours later at 2:40pm, BVFD sent a water tender back out to Evergreen to assist SD Wildland Fire and BIA units from Pine Ridge and Rosebud with the Rancher and Candle Fires, returning to the station at 8pm.
