Bismarck, N.D. – State government leaders say the recent hot, dry and windy weather touched off dozens of wildfires last weekend across North Dakota.
The Department of Emergency Services says 60 fires started between May 10th and May 11th, burning 1,100 acres of land.
20 of those fires began on Sunday and burned in the western and central part of the state.
One of the fires scorched 500 acres in Morton County. Another in Sheridan County destroyed 125 acres including a tractor. And yet another in Renville County burned a building and required crews from four local fire departments to put it out.
Despite that, state leaders are thanking the public for heeding their warnings.
“We can tell the public is hyper-aware of the threat of wildfires and is helping to do their part in avoiding burning and notifying emergency responders of smoke,” said Darin Hanson, Director of Homeland Security within the Department of Emergency Services in a statement.
“Every fire we don’t start is one that our firefighters don’t have to go fight, putting themselves in danger.”
Red flag warnings have been posted across much of the state in recent days.
The Turtle Mountain fires continue to be a major issue for firefighters. The area saw two new grassfires over the weekend, which added to the existing fire complex that has burned for more than a week.
So far, 3,600 acres have burned in the Turtle Mountain region and the state is characterizing it as “a long-lived event” for some time.
“We all need to keep working together to prevent wildfires and support our first responders,” said Hanson.
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