Smoke could be smelled for miles and the sky blazed red through the night in northwest South Dakota on Thursday, January 14. A grass fire broke out just after 4:30 p.m. in Adams County, North Dakota, just across the border from Lemmon, South Dakota.
Wind speeds in Lemmon at the time were 30 to 40 mph with gusts as high as 56 mph, with low humidity around 68%. Those high wind speeds and dry conditions combined with an unusual lack of January snow cover caused the fire to quickly spread to the southeast.