VIDEO: Two grass fires that started Thursday in the Watford City area ending up taking hours to contain and required help from numerous area fire departments, state organizations and a North Dakota National Guard Black Hawk helicopter. Around 11:00 a.m., the Watford City Fire Department responded to and coordinated efforts at the first fire while Keene crews took the lead on the second blaze.
Mutal aid assistance was called in from Arnegard, Alexander, and Dunn. With winds gusting up to 35 miles per hour and one of the fires burning in difficult terrain, the two events quickly overwhelmed local resources. Soon, the State Emergency Operations Center dispatched state resources to join the fight, including engines and firefighters from the North Dakota Forest Service and a Black Hawk aerial crew from the North Dakota National Guard.
The Black Hawk helicopter dropped roughly 24,000 gallons of water on the fire over the span of three hours, aiding the ground crew in the steep and difficult terrain. With help from the North Dakota Department of Water Resources and the National Weather Service, the helicopter was able to locate a spot along the Missouri River in the Lake Sakakawea area from which to draw water. The North Dakota Highway Patrol also provided aerial imagery of the fires in advance of the helicopterโs arrival to, โincrease situational awareness and scoping of the fires,โ according to information from North Dakota Emergency Services.
The North Dakota Forest service sent three engines and one UTV, along with firefighters, to battle the blazes on the ground. Two North Dakota Forest Service engines continued operations through the night to monitor the fire. Montana Dakota Utilities diverted power and Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative sent a lineman to survey potential outages. Both fires are still considered active, but are contained. The fires consumed over 3,000 acres combined. Ten structures were threatened and some people were evacuated from homes. To date, no structures were damaged. According to North Dakota Emergency Services, no primary homes are believed to have burned.
Local and state responding crews, including reinforcements from the Dickinson Rural Fire District and the Twin Valley Fire Department, are handling โmop-upโ operations today. North Dakota Emergency Services notes since Governor Kelly Armstrong signed a Fire Emergency Declaration on March 10,ย there have been 92 reported fires burning a total of 8,400 acres in the state. The Fire Emergency Declaration gives authority for state agencies to prepare ahead of time and rapidly respond in the dynamic fire conditions that exist across the state.
