It has become an annual winter tradition. Hundreds of people carrying torches set a giant wooden beetle statue on fire in Custer, South Dakota, to raise awareness about the devastating effects of the pine beetle on the Black Hills forestlands.
Custer firefighters prepared and lit torches Saturday night for residents to march to the crematorium during the 11th annual Burning Beetle Fest, the Rapid City Journal reported.
Amid drumbeats and chants of “Burn, Beetle, Burn,” people set fire to a tall statue of a beetle. Firefighters kept watch and warned participants not to throw torches as some people threw burning sticks into pine trees piled at the base of the beetles. Fireworks flashed brightly overhead.
The event will include a talent show, a “bug crawl,” and more to support local arts.
The U.S. Forest Service calls this pine beetle “the most aggressive, persistent and destructive bark beetle in the western United States and Canada.” The Black Hills has seen several beetle outbreaks since the 1890s, most recently affecting 703 square miles (1,820 square kilometers) from 1996 to 2016, according to the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
