South Dakota
Fears decrease but work remains to control wildfire near Rapid City • South Dakota Searchlight
RAPID CITY — A leader in the fight against a wildfire near South Dakota’s second largest city said Wednesday morning he’s less concerned, even as work to contain the fire continues.
“My comfort level is a lot higher now than it was yesterday,” said Brandon Sanchez, the U.S. Forest Service official who serves as incident commander.
The First Thunder Fire began Monday evening in a rocky and forested area cut by deep canyons in the Black Hills, several miles west of Rapid City. Since then, crews of local, state and federal firefighters have worked to keep the flames from spreading toward residential areas on the city’s western edge.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause, Sanchez said. The fire is burning an area of the Black Hills National Forest that’s mixed with parcels of private land. There have been no reports of injuries or damaged structures.
Some road closures remained in effect Wednesday morning, as did a flight restriction aimed at preventing drones and other aircraft from interfering with helicopters and tanker planes used by firefighters.
Authorities are asking those who live near the fire to stay prepared in case they’re ordered to leave, said Lt. Jason Mitzel of the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office.
“Right now we’re not doing any evacuations, and it doesn’t look like there’s going to be a need for any evacuations,” he said. “However, whenever there’s an incident like this, we always just ask people to be prepared in case that time may come.”
The estimate of the fire’s size Wednesday morning was 155 acres, only 5 acres larger than Tuesday’s estimate. About 150 firefighting personnel were on the scene.
Sanchez said firefighters have established a perimeter around the fire. The perimeter consists of earthen lines dug by hand or bulldozer, and also includes manmade and natural fire breaks such as roads and rocky outcrops. Tanker planes have dropped retardant chemicals ahead of the fire’s advance, and helicopters have dropped water.
Despite those efforts, estimated containment of the fire remained at 0%. That’s because fire remained close to the lines in some areas, and firefighters were working to knock those flames down. Sanchez said an updated containment estimate would probably be issued later Wednesday.
Weather remains a wild card. Clouds gathering Wednesday over the Black Hills were expected to bring helpful rain, but Sanchez said firefighters were also monitoring potential thunderstorms that could produce fire-fueling wind.
Sept. 2-3, 2024, images of the First Thunder Fire just west of Rapid City.
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Video: Kirk Ferentz reacts to Iowa’s ReliaQuest Bowl win over Vanderbilt
Kirk Ferentz meets with media after Iowa football’s 34-27 win over Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
IOWA CITY — South Dakota transfer running back L.J. Phillips Jr. has committed to Iowa football, he announced on Jan. 11.
Phillips had a breakout 2025 season, rushing for more than 1,900 yards, along with 19 touchdowns. He also added 28 catches for 195 yards receiving and one touchdown. Phillips was named a second-team FCS All-American by Phil Steele.
Phillips, listed at 5-foot-9 and 225 pounds, will come to Iowa with two seasons of eligibility remaining.
After rushing for more than 4,100 yards in his high school career, Phillips spent three seasons at South Dakota. During his time with the Coyotes, Phillips rushed for nearly 2,220 yards, along with 23 touchdowns. A majority of that production came in 2025. Phillips rushed for 96 yards while maintaining his redshirt in 2023 and then 176 yards as a redshirt freshman in 2024.
But his numbers exploded last season with some ridiculous performances. Phillips rushed 35 times for 301 yards and two touchdowns against Northern Colorado. He had four rushing touchdowns in two separate games. That includes a 244-yard, four-touchdown outing against Murray State. Phillips finished the season averaging 6.5 yards per rush.
Iowa has seen a pair of departures via the transfer portal in its running back room — Jaziun Patterson and Terrell Washington Jr. Patterson ranked third on the Hawkeyes in rushing yards during the 2025 season with 296.
Iowa still projects to have a talented running back room for the 2026 season. Kamari Moulton, who led Iowa with 878 rushing yards last season, still has two seasons of eligibility remaining. Nathan McNeil showed potential in his true freshman season. Xavier Williams tallied 285 yards on the ground as a redshirt freshman.
And now, Iowa adds another weapon to that room in Phillips. The Hawkeyes’ running back unit looks to be stacked entering the 2026 season.
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has released the name of the woman who was killed in a fatal crash in Minnehaha County last week.
64-year-old Patricia Archambeau of Mitchell died on January 5 due to her injuries in a crash that took place in the early hours of Saturday, January 3.
Archambeau’s 2012 Chevrolet Traverse was traveling eastbound on I-90 near mile marker 379, about four miles west of Humboldt, when she attempted to pull off on the side of the road.
At the same time, the Traverse was struck by a semi-truck, also traveling eastbound, and pulling a trailer. The truck continued driving east after the crash and has yet to be located.
On Sunday, the South Dakota Highway Patrol released two images of the semi-truck suspected of hitting Archambeau’s Traverse. The two photos were taken on I-29 near 41st Street in Sioux Falls at 2:25 a.m., about 12 minutes after the crash west of Humboldt.
Highway Patrol is seeking more information about a red Freightliner Cascadia semi-truck, missing its passenger-side headlight. If anyone has information, they’re asked to contact Highway Patrol at 605-367-5700.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) — Cameron Fens scored 23 points as South Dakota beat Denver 82-72 on Saturday.
Fens also contributed 12 rebounds and four blocks for the Coyotes (9-9, 1-2 Summit League). Isaac Bruns scored 20 points while going 8 of 12 and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line and added six rebounds. Jordan Crawford went 5 of 11 from the field (3 for 7 from 3-point range) to finish with 13 points.
Gabe Oldham led the Pioneers (8-11, 1-3) in scoring, finishing with 24 points, 13 rebounds and two steals. Denver also got 19 points from Zane Nelson. Carson Johnson also put up 11 points and six assists.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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