Lookout Fire

Lawrence County, South Dakota · Wildfire

No longer active Official numbers updated Sep 13, 2026 (about 1 month ago)

First reported about 5 weeks ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	300 acres Sep 8, 5:00 PM	444 acres Oct 14, 5:00 PM +144 acres was 300 acres · Sep 8, 5:00 PM	+144 acres in about 1 month
Containment	71% Sep 13, 4:00 PM	100% Oct 14, 5:00 PM +29 percent was 71% · Sep 13, 4:00 PM	+29 percent in about 1 month
Crew size	61 Sep 13, 4:00 PM	35 Oct 14, 5:00 PM −26 was 61 · Sep 13, 4:00 PM	−26 in about 1 month
Money spent	$890,681 Sep 10, 4:00 PM	$1.2M Oct 14, 5:00 PM +$261,680 was $890,681 · Sep 10, 4:00 PM	+$261,680 in about 1 month

Lookout Fire summary

The Lookout Fire is a wildfire near Lawrence County, South Dakota. It has burned about 444 acres (about 336 football fields). Crews have it fully contained, with a line all the way around it. It was first reported about 5 weeks ago. About 35 people are on it, run by a Type 5 IC.

Size: 444 acres
Containment: 100%
Discovered: September 7, 2026 (first reported about 5 weeks ago)
Cause: Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Sunday, September 27th at 5:00 p.m. CDT.

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Weather & fire-spread conditions

No Red Flag Warning. The National Weather Service hasn't flagged this area for dangerous fire-spread conditions right now.

Hot, dry, and windy weather can help a fire grow; cool, calm, or wet weather helps crews. The tags below rate each day for fire spread — green is calm, red can push a fire.

A general fire-weather guide (wind matters most, then how dry it is, then heat), not a prediction of what a specific fire will do.

	Day	Night
This Afternoon	66°F · Slight Chance Rain Showers Wind 10 to 14 mph E · 16% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry	53°F · Chance Showers And Thunderstorms Wind 3 to 10 mph E · 32% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Some rain
Monday	74°F · Chance Rain Showers then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms Wind 3 to 8 mph N · 33% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Some rain	49°F · Chance Showers And Thunderstorms then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms Wind 2 to 7 mph W · 34% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Some rain
Tuesday	74°F · Mostly Sunny Wind 2 to 7 mph N · 7% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry	—

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Sunday, September 27th at 5:01 p.m. CDT.

Could this fire move fast?

Weather isn't the only thing that changes how a fire moves. The ground matters too: how steep it is, and what's growing on it. These four numbers are for the exact spot where this fire started, not the whole fire. A big fire crosses a lot of different ground.

11° slope

Fire usually moves faster uphill than downhill. Heat and flame lean uphill, drying out the ground above the fire before it gets there.

Not wildfire fuel (NB1)

Urban or developed land. Not a wildland fuel.

0% tree canopy cover

The more tree cover above a fire, the easier it is for the fire to climb from the ground into the treetops. That's called a crown fire. Crown fires move faster, throw embers farther ahead of the fire, and are harder for crews to stop head-on.

3,271 ft elevation

Elevation by itself doesn't make a fire more or less dangerous. But it shapes the other three numbers here: what grows there, how dry things get, and what the weather does.

Elevation and slope from the USGS 3D Elevation Program; fuel type and canopy cover from LANDFIRE (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), pulled Thursday, September 10th at 4:08 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 35 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 5 IC. The government rates it a Type 3 Incident. About $1 million has been spent on it so far.

The official feed reports the total headcount, not a breakdown by crew type.