Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010

Updated at 5 p.m.

Hunters asked to help with food drive

When local hunters clean out their freezers in preparation for this year’s hunting season, they are asked to remember the hungry.

“A Clean Out Your Freezer” game meat food drive is from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 11 at the Feeding South Dakota Food Bank in east Pierre. The bank is located at the corner of North Garfield Avenue and Airport Road.

The drive, which is part of the South Dakota Sportsmen Against Hunger program, is being conducted by Feeding South Dakota, Sportsmen Against Hunger, South Dakota Wildlife Federation and the local High Plains Wildlife Association. Ron Fowler of the Sportsman Against Hunger program says the drive is designed to collect frozen processed game meat as well as donations of non-game meat and other non-perishable food items.

All items will be distributed to local organizations which will get the fresh meat to individuals and families in Central South Dakota. Since the food bank is new to the area, this is the first time for such a local drive. Fowler says all donations, but especially fresh game meat, are welcomed.

Processing certificates also are available to help with the cost of processing. For more information, call Fowler at 280-4977 or Chris Helsa at 224-7524.

Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010

Updated at 1:35 p.m.

Landfill fire extinguished again

Local firefighters have again extinguished a rubble pile fire at the Pierre City Landfill, but with today’s high winds, they could be called to the scene again.

Pierre and Fort Pierre firefighters spent more than four hours at the landfill this morning after being called back to the scene at 6:15 a.m. Pierre Fire Chief Bill Alexander says high winds reignited some of the remaining embers.

Firefighters spent more than three hours Wednesday fighting a fire in a rubble pile that was 10-15 feet high and 60-70 feet long. Alexander says the new area included in the fire this morning was 30 feet by 30 feet wide. Alexander says while the fire today was not as big size-wise as Wednesday’s blaze, the high winds today were a problem.

Winds are expected to remain gusty throughout the day. Alexander says it is possible that with so much debris, there could be some embers waiting to flare up again, meaning crews may be called out again.

There were no injuries or structures threatened. Alexander says about 24 firefighters from the Pierre Fire, Pierre Rural and Fort Pierre Fire Departments were on the scene until about 10:30 a.m.

Landfill crews and Pierre Police will monitor the site to make sure the fire doesn’t start again.

Pierre landfill opens again

Pierre’s landfill is open again to the public after being closed for most of the past day because of a rubble pile fire.

The landfill closed to the public early Wednesday after the fire was discovered. Solid Waste Manager Val Keller says the landfill opened to the public around 10:30 this morning after firefighters had finished fighting the fire after it flared up again.

The fire was in the rubble pile area located in the east part of the landfill. Keller says the pile consists mainly of home construction materials that are dumped by contractors and local residents.

Origin of the fire has not been determined and may not be. Keller says this is the first fire ever in that area since it opened in the late 1990s. She says her office will review dumping procedures to make sure there were no problems.

While the landfill had to be closed, Keller says the city’s solid waste facility on East Park Street, where various debris items are dropped off, remained opened.

   

Wind advisory now until 10 p.m. CDT

Today: Mostly cloudy. High 74. Windy with a west northwest wind 16-19 mph increasing to 33-36 mph later in the day. Winds could gust as high as 50 mph. Chance of precipitation 40%.

Tonight: Most cloudy. High 45. Breezy with a northwest wind 25-28 mph decreasing to between 8-11 mph. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph.

End of KCCR/KLXS News for 9/2/10. Copyright 2010 - KCCR/KLXS