ND fire danger high as grassland still burning

Pic: NDHP

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is warning the state is headed to a “tough fire season.”

Much of the state is in a drought. The National Drought Mitigation Center suggests 47% of the state is in extreme drought and 38% in severe drought status.  The fire out by Medora is said to be about 85% contained.

Firefighters are making progress in controlling a large grass fire near Medora, North Dakota as more wildfires have started in other areas in the western part of the state facing high fire danger.

According to the North Dakota Forest Service – as of Sunday – the Medora blaze was 85% contained. It had burned an estimated 2,276 acres of grassland since it started Thursday.

Another fire was reported on USDA Forest Service national grasslands on Saturday that spread into the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The last report indicated it was about 30% contained, burning roughly 1000 acres so far.

The Williston Fire Department is down a truck after a brush fire destroyed it. The fire department said in a news release late Saturday that the fire broke out north of Williston. The Williston Fire Department assisted the Williston Rural Fire Department in fighting the blaze, dispatching five trucks. While crews were fighting the fire the wind shifted and flames rapidly overtook one of the trucks and firefighters had to evacuate.  No one was hurt but the truck was a total loss.