Crews Battle Fire In South Dakota

HOT SPRINGS, S.D. (AP) -- Twenty state prison inmates were among those sent on Tuesday to battle a fire in the southern Black Hills.

Thousands of lightning strikes over the weekend resulted in at least four fires in the southern Hills, said Frank Carroll, a public affairs officer for the forest.

The largest was the 20-acre Shirttail Fire near Hot Springs.

All the inmates are trained in wildland firefighting techniques and are certified firefighters, according to Michael Winder of the state Department of Corrections.

It marks the seventh time this year that inmate firefighters have been deployed, Winder said.