BREAKING: Overnight fire at Lake Poinsett campground destroys campers, boats, vehicles (Audio)
June 9, 2020
Mike Tanner
LAKE POINSETT, S.D.–A busy night at a campground just south of Lake Poinsett Estates Campground some 20 miles south of Watertown early Tuesday as area firefighters fought a large fire there.
It happened around 2:15 this morning, shortly after severe storms rolled through that area.
KWAT News Director Mike Tanner spoke with Dave Schafer, Hamlin County’s emergency management director…
He says it was a fast-moving fire, fueled by strong winds…
Schafer says severe storms were in the area right before the fire started, but he’s not sure if it was weather-related. He says there were strong storms just west of the campground shortly before the first started. He says it’s possible, but not certain, that it could have been started by a lightning strike. He says it also could be electrical in nature, or could have started from a campfire that was not completely extinguished.
He says there was one dog that perished in the fire.