Fairpoint Fire, Fairpoint, SD, South Dakota

Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location3 miles west of Fairpoint, SD

CauseNatural

What's burningTall Grass (2.5 feet)

How it's behavingExtremeWind Driven Runs — The wind pushes it in long runs in one direction.

ComplexityType 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$25,000

Glossary: what each term means

Minimal

Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.

Smoldering

Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

Creeping

Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

Moderate

Spreads with low, steady flames.

Active

Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.

Extreme

Fast and unpredictable.

Running

Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.

Flanking

Grows along the sides, not head-on.

Backing

Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

Crowning

Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.

Short Crown Runs

Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.

Torching

Whole trees flaring up like torches.

Isolated Torching

Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

Group Torching

Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.

Spotting

Wind carries embers through the air and starts new fires ahead of the front: that is how a fire jumps a road or a firebreak.

Wind Driven Runs

The wind pushes it in long runs in one direction.

The ones marked ● are the behaviors that make a fire harder to stop. They are not a warning or an instruction: they are the description written by the agency in charge. For decisions, always follow your emergency services.

The story so far

Summary written on Oct 2, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning across 510 acres of private land featuring 2.5-foot tall grass near Fairpoint, South Dakota, in Meade County, the Fairpoint Fire has maintained an active footprint over 69 days of burning. The incident, which started on July 25, 2026, has been driven by extreme, wind-driven runs, averaging approximately 7 acres of growth per day. Despite these challenging conditions, the fire has reached 100 percent containment.

A Type 5 Incident management team consisting of 42 personnel has been assigned to the natural-cause fire, bringing total costs to $25,000. This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows 3,318,049 hectares burned so far in 2026, tracking 39 percent below the two-decade average.