Six of the nine burned in the Legion Lake Fire in Custer State Park are now considered to be in stable condition. The other three have been put down due to organ failure. Kobee Stalder is the program manager at Custer State Park. He says treating their burns is a long and complicated process.
“They’ve received antibiotic treatment every day. They have the salves they get put on. There’s also medication that increases their blood flow so we don’t have to worry about blood clotting things like that. The veterinarian she would work on them for two to three hours every day and continues to do so. She draws blood and she tests their blood every day and basically from those blood tests our veterinarian was able to tell that those one that did suffer organ failure wouldn’t recover because they were suffering organ failure and that’s just due to the severity of the burns. It’s kind of tough and go. Even though they are considered stable, I mean we don’t want to guarantee that they we can say that all six are going to come out of this, but we are highly optimistic. This is a huge milestone obviously in their recovery that they are now considered stable," Stalder says.
Stalder says the burros were trapped in the fire on the south side of the park. He says this may have been why their burns were so severe. Staler says if the burros recover quickly they will return to the park in the spring.