Bucyrus update: Elevator saved, 4 homes destroyed in fire

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AP - The chairman of the Adams County Commission said the fire razed four homes in Bucyrus, the town about 60 miles south of Dickinson.

“A lifetime of memories (is) gone for at least four families,” Chuck Christman said early Thursday.

Firefighters stopped the blaze before it reached a church and it bypassed altogether a privately owned grain elevator on the outskirts of town, Christman said. The town's only business, a picture-framing shop, was destroyed.

“The fire went by it so fast it didn't catch,” he said of the elevator.

The fire also destroyed an unoccupied farmstead in the area and about 70 electrical utility poles, cutting power to Bucyrus, Christman said.

Authorities were investigating the source of the fire that began Wednesday afternoon and grew to be nearly 10 miles long, pushed by winds gusting in excess of 60 mph. Firefighters from agencies in North Dakota and South Dakota got the blaze under control late Wednesday and were monitoring hot spots early Thursday, the Adams County Sheriff's Department said.

“People opened up their homes. They brought food. It just makes you proud to be from a small community. Everyone pitched in, Christman said. ”A lot of strangers with water trucks came in from the oil fields. Thank goodness for cellphones and radios."

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