South Dakota
South Dakota Wildfire Map — Live Fires & Containment
The federal wildfire feed currently lists 4 wildfires in South Dakota (2 active, 2 contained), covering about 1,262 acres. The largest is the Fairpoint Fire at 510 acres, 100% contained, in Meade County.
Active wildfires in South Dakota right now, the share of South Dakota homes in the wildland-urban interface, and where to find official information. The state’s Wildland Fire Division, part of the Department of Public Safety, publishes daily fire danger and burn-permit information, including for the Black Hills Fire Protection District. The list and counts come from the federal wildfire feed; the WUI figures come from the SILVIS Lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The active-fire data refreshes every 15 minutes.
4
Wildfires listed
1,262 ac
Total acres
Fire data updated 6 minutes ago
Last updated
Last updated · refreshed every 15 minutes from the NIFC WFIGS feed · awareness only — follow local authorities
Live South Dakota wildfire map
Fire markers show active wildfires reported across South Dakota, refreshed every 15 minutes.
Every South Dakota wildfire right now
| Fire | Acres | Contained | County | Status | Discovered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairpoint | 510 acres | 100% | Meade | Contained | Jul 25, 2026 |
| Lookout | 444 acres | 100% | Lawrence | Contained | Sep 7, 2026 |
| Gilbert | 211 acres | — | Harding | Active | Sep 13, 2026 |
| Dry Grass | 97 acres | — | Pennington | Active | Aug 7, 2026 |
2026 wildfires in South Dakota
7 South Dakota wildfires reached 1,000 acres in 2026, by our 15-minute archive of the federal feed, which begins May 24, 2026. Largest first, with the dates each was listed in the feed:
| Fire | Acres | First listed | Last listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potato Creek Fire | 10,944 acres | Jul 27, 2026 | Aug 24, 2026 |
| Qury Fire | 9,168 acres | Jun 3, 2026 | Jun 18, 2026 |
| Needles Fire | 6,018 acres | Sep 4, 2026 | Sep 17, 2026 |
| XU Hill Fire | 1,297 acres | Aug 12, 2026 | Sep 10, 2026 |
| Pleasant Ridge Fire | 1,260 acres | Jul 30, 2026 | Jul 31, 2026 |
| Van Meter Fire | 1,091 acres | Sep 9, 2026 | Sep 9, 2026 |
| Rancher Fire | 504 acres | Aug 12, 2026 | Sep 15, 2026 |
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South Dakota wildfire questions, answered live
Where are the fires in South Dakota right now?
As of Sep 23, 2026, 19:45 UTC, there are 4 wildfires listed in South Dakota. The largest are Fairpoint Fire (Meade County), 510 acres, Lookout Fire (Lawrence County), 444 acres, and Gilbert Fire (Harding County), 211 acres. The live map above shows each one at its reported point of origin, and the table lists them all with acreage, containment, and county.
Are there any wildfires in South Dakota today?
Yes. 2 are listed as active and 2 as contained, 4 in total, covering about 1,262 acres.
What is the biggest fire in South Dakota right now?
The Fairpoint Fire in Meade County, at 510 acres, 100% contained.
What were the largest wildfires in South Dakota in 2026?
7 wildfires in South Dakota reached 1,000 acres in 2026, by FireRiskHere’s archive of the federal feed, which begins May 24, 2026. The largest were Potato Creek Fire (10,944 acres), Qury Fire (9,168 acres), and Needles Fire (6,018 acres). Each has its own page with a day-by-day timeline; the full list is in the 2026 season archive.
How current is this South Dakota wildfire map?
The data comes from the National Interagency Fire Center's WFIGS incident feed and is refreshed every 15 minutes. It was last updated Sep 23, 2026, 19:45 UTC. Containment percentages and acreage are what incident teams report; they can lag the situation on the ground by hours.
Where do I find evacuation orders for South Dakota?
Evacuation orders come from county sheriffs and local emergency management, not from this site. Use the official South Dakota sources listed on this page and your county’s alert system. FireRiskHere is for awareness only.
Homes in the wildland-urban interface
About 26% of South Dakota’s homes sit inside the wildland-urban interface — roughly 102,000 of 393,000 statewide, according to the SILVIS Lab’s 2020 dataset. They are concentrated in the Black Hills: the five Black Hills counties (Pennington, Lawrence, Meade, Custer, and Fall River) hold about two-thirds of them. The contrast is sharp: about 79% of homes in Pennington County, around Rapid City, and about 91% in Lawrence County, around Spearfish and Deadwood, against less than 1% in Minnehaha County, around Sioux Falls.
The five South Dakota counties with the most homes in the wildland-urban interface:
- Pennington County
- Lawrence County
- Meade County
- Hughes County
- Custer County
Being in the interface is a description of geography, not a forecast of fire — it captures how close a building sits to vegetation that can burn. These classifications change slowly; the figures here come from the SILVIS Lab’s most recent revision of the 1990–2020 dataset, released February 2025.
Official South Dakota sources
- South Dakota Wildland Fire (Department of Public Safety) — wildlandfire.sd.gov
- South Dakota Office of Emergency Management (Department of Public Safety) — sd.gov/dps?id=dps_emergency_management