On April 21, 1980, unseasonably hot and dry weather, with a temperature of 91 degrees and humidity of 18 percent, set the stage for the catastrophic Ekdall Church Fire. Beginning at approximately 12:20 p.m. that afternoon, the fire, fueled by tinder-dry conditions and a strong southwest wind, consumed acre upon acre on its march to the Saint Croix River. At its peak, it was estimated to have been traveling nearly 2 1/2 miles per hour. Its destructive path was five miles long and, in some locations, nearly three miles wide. By day’s end, 4,654 acres of forest and wetlands and 73 structures had been destroyed, including the historic Ekdall Church, from which the fire took its name.