"The Rapid City Fire Department responded to a grass fire up off of Bunker Drive yesterday evening. The fire was stopped at one acre and appears to be human caused. The fire was quickly controlled and did not threaten any structures."
Credit: Rapid City Fire Department
There is a red flag warning and a wind advisory in effect for eastern South Dakota today. Gusts up to 50 miles per hour are expected. Western South Dakota is also under a high-wind warning.
Matthew Dux is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls. He says these conditions are normal for early spring.
“A lot of the fire weather season in this part of the country hinges on the transition seasons, fall and spring where stuff is starting to brown and turn dry. Or in the case of spring, where we're kind of waiting for things to green up. Once we get some more precipitation then we get more and more warmer weather that does begin to kind of alleviate those fire weather concerns.”
He says people should avoid burning anything today, use caution if working outside, and be careful discarding cigarette butts. Dux says a fire started today would be difficult to control.
Hazardous conditions could continue into tomorrow.