Chadron –  The 83-acre Spotted Tail Fire about 5 miles south of Chadron was officially declared 100% contained this afternoon.

The fire was entirely on U-S Forest Service land, and Incident Commander Brian Daunt of the U.S. Forest Service says a transition of incident control to the Pine Ridge Ranger District level occurred at 3:00 p.m. today.

Daunt says firefighters and other resources were released throughout the day for reassignment to other fires or to return to their home stations, but with crews continuing to monitor and patrol the burned area for several days…during which smoke may still be seen.

Daunt also says he wants to extend the gratitude and appreciation of the Forest Service to the local Volunteer Fire Departments and all other cooperators for their excellent, professional work on the fire.

The Spotted Tail Fire began late Saturday, but no cause has been released – although the lack of lightning strongly suggests it was a man-caused blaze. It burned in an area that also burned in the much larger 2006 fire of the same name.