The U-S Forest Service has reduced the estimated size and increased the estimated level of containment for the Spotted Tail Fire…located about 5 miles south of Chadron.

A 2 pm release puts the fire at 95% contain, but cites GPS mapping in shrinking the estimated size of the fire from 100-acres to 83-acres…all on the Pine Ridge Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands have been burned.

The fire was reported Saturday morning in an area burned in the much larger 2006 Spotted Tail Fire, where trees killed in the earlier blaze provided plenty of hot-burning fuel.

There have been no injuries reported and no structures damaged or currently threatened. Several roads in the Spottted Tail area are temporarily closed and fire officials continue to ask people to avoid the area.

Pine Ridge Ranger District Fire Management Officer Weston Burch credits local Volunteer Fire Departments with holding the fire in check in its initial stages even though it “exhibited rapid growth and was resistant to containment.”

Burch says the VFDs did a great job of responding quickly and stopped potentially significant advancements through a variety of firefighting techniques including two drops by a single-engine air tanker.

The initial response included units from the Chadron, Crawford, Rushville, Hemingford, Hay Springs, and Hot Springs VFWs with the U.S. Forest Service mobilizing five engines.

Firefighters from the Chadron and Crawford VFDs and the Forest Service are continuing to mop-up, securing fire lines and working toward full containment.

The Forest Service will provide additional information in the Monday morning update unless conditions warrant earlier updates.