Wind Storm Fuels Massive Grass Fire Near ND SD Border! (VIDEO)

A massive wild fire located near Lemon, South Dakota has burned over 20,000 acres and forced the evacuation of several farms.  Fire fighters from 22 departments and two states, battled the blaze into the wee hours of the morning.  It took nearly 8 hours to contain the fire.  The blaze could be seen for up to 8 miles into North Dakota, according to an article on KX News.  Two fireman were taken to the hospital, including Aaron Anderson from Regent, North Dakota.  He was taken to the Lemon, South Dakota hospital with fractured knee and a bone chip.  Anderson is currently recovering at home.  Here's a short video from the scene of the fire from Michael Anderson, fireman and father of Aaron

The lack of snow cover and wind speeds gusting up to 90 miles per hour helped fuel the fire.  The fire actually began on the North Dakota side of the border in Adams county northwest of the city of Lemmon, South Dakota.  The Lemmon Fire Department responded to the grass fire northwest of the city about 4:30 pm.

According to Michael Anderson of Regent, (The Father of Aaron Anderson) the brave actions of several SW North Dakota fire fighters saved several farms in the path of the fire.  Unfortunately, several ranches and homes were also lost.  Michael Anderson and his son's Aaron and Anthony having been fighting fires for a long time, but this fire had the worst smoke they've ever seen.  This was also the only fire the Anderson's have ever fought in the month of January.  "Thankfully, the temperatures were down below freezing or the fire would've spread even faster," according to Anderson.

Crews are expected to remain on the scene throughout the day to extinguish hot spots.  At the time of this article, the fire is still burning.