Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 19:28

"and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace." — Genesis 19:28 (ASV)

Lo, the smoke of the country (really, land) went up as the smoke of a furnace.

The substitution of the word country for land is confusing. It was the land of the Ciccar, just mentioned, which was in flames. Since Abraham could see the Ciccar, it must have been at the northern end of the Dead Sea (see Note on Genesis 18:16). Furthermore, because a violent conflagration was raging throughout it, the site of the cities could not have been submerged (see Note on Genesis 14:3). The violence of the fire is indicated by the last word, which is not the ordinary word for a furnace, but means a kiln, such as that used for burning chalk into lime or for melting ores of metal.