Volunteer fire departments from Ashton, Brentford, Mellette, Northville and Warner battled a fire southeast of Mellette on Friday afternoon and into the evening. The fire burned an area about 3 miles long and a half mile wide, said Randy Maddox, Spink County emergency manager.
No one was injured. One home, about 2 miles east of Mellette was evacuated. But the house was not damaged by the fire, Maddox said.
The flames destroyed stacks of hay bales and burned through some cattle pens on one farm, he said. No buildings of substance were damaged, although a couple of dilapidated, old sheds burned, he said.
The fire appears to have started when embers in a pile of trees burned earlier this year flared up in strong winds, Maddox said. No one will be charged with violating Spink County's ban on open burning, he said.
The fire started early in the afternoon and was under control by 5:30 p.m. Some Mellette firefighters were still on the scene late Friday to watch for possible flare-ups, he said.
Clouds of gray, yellow and black smoke billowed across state Highway 20 north of the fire, limiting visibility. South Dakota Highway Patrol officers stopped motorists from traveling on the highway. U.S. Highway 281 immediately west of Mellette was not closed.
About a dozen farmers took to the fields with discs and plows to help prevent the fire from spreading, Maddox said. "We would never have gotten it under control if not for the farmers and their implements, he said.
Two smaller grass fires also occurred in Spink County on Friday - one near Doland and one near Ashton. These were brought quickly under control, Maddox said.
Northern fires: In North Dakota's McIntosh County, two fires burned - one north of Ashley, N.D., and another east of the town, said McIntosh emergency manager DeLoris Rudolph. By mid-afternoon, the Ashley Fire Department was considering requesting aid from Dickey County firefighters, she said.
Sustained southerly winds of 30 to 35 mph prevailed throughout the region on Friday, said Mindy Albrecht of the National Weather Service in Aberdeen. Winds gusted to 40 to 45 mph. NWS had one report of a 52-mph gust a mile east of Webster at 11:30 a.m. Friday, she said.
Winds were expected to relent somewhat Friday night, and to pick up again today to 20 to 30 mph with some gusts of greater speeds, Albrecht said.
The area's first significant chance of rain is Sunday night, Monday and into Tuesday. "We've got some pretty good chances," Albrecht said. Tentatively, it looks like chances are 60 percent on Monday and 50 percent on Tuesday. Only a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms was forecast for today.
It's too soon to say, but the weather service has hopes a quarter-inch of rain will arrive, at least in some places, she said.
Aberdeen has received the equivalent of 1.2 inches of liquid precipitation so far in 2005, or less than half what's normal. For Jan. 1 through April 8, the city's norm is 2.68 inches.
More burn bans: The Faulk County Commission this week enacted a countywide ban on open burning, effective immediately and until further notice. The McIntosh County Commission did the same this week, Rudolph said.
Brown, Spink and Potter counties also have burn bans in place. And some other area counties require a permit before burning.
The maximum penalty for violating the bans is 30 days in jail and a $200 fine.
