ANSELMO – The Custer County Emergency Management Department and the Anselmo Fire Department have released a statement regarding last week’s Cooksley Complex Fire.
According to the information reported by both Anselmo Fire and Emergency Management, the Cooksley Complex Fire was reported on Thursday, April 13 at 3:04 p.m.
The fire started on the railroad right of way approximately six miles north of Anselmo. Due to the winds, the fire moved extremely fast over very rough terrain making it difficult to fight.
A storm system moved across Custer County and Blaine County close to nighttime and caused multiple lightning fires of which two in Custer County and one in Blaine County became large fires. These fires overloaded local fire resources spreading them out over a large geographical area.
A large number of fire departments from across the state responded to assist with all four fires. Fire crews ran shifts through Sunday evening April 16, performing mop-up operations and watching for flare-ups, at which time the Anselmo Fire Department continued to monitor the situation. A combined total of 40,000 acres burned in the four large fires.
