Van Meter Fire

Jones County, South Dakota · Wildfire

No longer active Official numbers updated Sep 9, 2026 (about 1 month ago)

First reported about 5 weeks ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	300 acres Sep 8, 7:00 PM	1,091 acres Oct 15, 6:00 PM +791 acres was 300 acres · Sep 8, 7:00 PM	+791 acres in about 1 month
Containment	—	100% Oct 15, 6:00 PM	—
Crew size	—	74 Oct 15, 6:00 PM	—
Money spent	—	$40,000 Oct 15, 6:00 PM	—

Van Meter Fire summary

The Van Meter Fire is a wildfire near Jones County, South Dakota. It has burned about 1,091 acres (about 827 football fields). Crews have it fully contained, with a line all the way around it. It was first reported about 5 weeks ago. About 74 people are on it, run by a Type 4 IC.

Size: 1,091 acres
Containment: 100%
Discovered: September 8, 2026 (first reported about 5 weeks ago)
Cause: Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Wednesday, September 9th 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	85°F · Sunny Wind 12 mph NW · 0% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Warm Dry	53°F · Mostly Clear Wind 6 to 12 mph S · 0% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry
Thursday	90°F · Sunny Wind 10 to 14 mph SW · 0% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Hot Dry	61°F · Mostly Clear Wind 7 to 17 mph S · 0% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry
Friday	88°F · Mostly Sunny Wind 12 to 30 mph W · 0% rain Wind: High wind Heat: Warm Dry	—

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Wednesday, September 9th at 5:05 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 74 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 4 IC. The government rates it a Type 4 Incident. About $40,000 has been spent on it so far.

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