BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — One person died and more than 100 others evacuated from their homes as wildfires driven by ferocious winds and dry conditions raged through parts of western North Dakota over the weekend.
Six significant wildfires were reported, and, as of Monday morning, large fires near Grassy Butte and Mandaree were still considered zero percent contained, the state Department of Emergency Services said. Four other fires were 90% to 100% contained as of 10 a.m. Monday.
Johannes Nicolaas Van Eeden, 26, of South Africa, died due to critical injuries from a large fire near Ray in northwest North Dakota, the Williams County Sheriff's Office said Sunday. It wasn't clear when he died. Detective Dan Ward declined to say how he died, citing an active investigation.
Officials assume the Ray fire began from downed power lines in the high winds, he said. Another person was critically injured, the sheriff's office said.
The fires burned in scattered areas over a vast swath of North Dakota's oil fields, including agricultural land, grassland and rugged Badlands terrain where small, rural towns dot the map. Wind gusts reported Saturday morning in areas of western and central North Dakota ranged from 57 mph (92 kph) to 75 mph (121 kph), according to the National Weather Service. Most of western North Dakota is in some level of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
At least two homes and numerous outbuildings were lost in the Mandaree-area Bear Dean Fire that's still burning, the department said. Damage in other fires included downed power lines, vehicles and outbuildings.
The fires led to evacuations in some areas and temporary closures of portions of two highways. There are no current evacuation orders, according to a department spokesperson.
“This may go down in history as one of the worst combined fire situation in North Dakota history,” North Dakota Adjutant General Mitch Johnson said in a statement Sunday. “Yesterday we were on defense, but today we’re on offense.”
Eighty to 100 people were affected by the evacuation order in the Arnegard area, where a 700-acre (283-hectare) fire began early Saturday, ignited by a downed power line, said Arnegard Fire Protection District Chief Rick Schreiber. Another 35 people slept on cots at a makeshift shelter Saturday night, McKenzie County Emergency Manager Karolin Jappe said.
Responders to the Arnegard-area fire dealt with wind gusts up to 73 mph (117 kph), and initial units had to back out to avoid being overrun by flames, said Schreiber, who requested every available unit in the county with 50 to 60 homes and businesses in the line of the fire.
He called the blaze “the fastest, most aggressive grass fire that I have ever been on, period, ever” in his 27 years of firefighting.
Firefighters battled 50-foot (15-meter) flames over tree rows, he said. He credited the response from multiple fire departments, the county and local residents to help fight the blaze.
The fire left a barren wasteland and nothing on the ground, Schreiber said.
Jappe compared driving conditions to a blizzard but with ash, smoke and dust. The wind on Saturday was like nothing she'd ever felt, she said. Many oil companies have shut off their flaring of natural gas during the dry period, she said.
Wind gusts reported Saturday morning in areas of western and central North Dakota ranged from 57 mph (92 kph) to 75 mph (121 kph), according to the National Weather Service. Most of western North Dakota is in some level of drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum planned to take aerial tours of wildfire areas and meet with officials and locals on Monday.
Local, state, tribal and federal responders and agencies battled the fires, as well as National Guard firefighters and help from Montana and New Mexico, according to Burgum's office.
Jack Dura, The Associated Press
