VIDEO: Drought conditions and an early thaw are factors contributing to an earlier and longer-than-average spring fire season. Fires have already started across the state, including a fire that burned about 1,200 acres near Menoken. “We usually get relief coming into winter time. We usually get some snow packs to relieve the drought and that dry fuel. But we didn’t get a lot of moisture throughout the winter season. So as you can see as you look outside, on March 10, and there’s no snow and there’s really dry fuel out there,” said Hunter Noor, Wildland Fire Operations, Assistant Fire Management Officer (AFMO) for North Dakota Forest Service. All state agencies have been ordered to maintain high levels of readiness to combat fires to save lives, homes, and communities.
