Jamestown Rural Fire Department responds to 4 calls Sunday morning

Kathy Steiner, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·2 min read

Nov. 6—The Jamestown Rural Fire Department responded to four calls on Sunday, including one fire that burned 60 acres, said Rick Woehl, assistant fire chief.

The first call at 3:22 a.m. was reported at 3377 80th Ave. SE.

"That was a grass fire in the ditch," Woehl said.

Three trucks and six firefighters responded and were at the scene for about 30 minutes. Woehl did not know the cause of the fire and said a small area was burned.

The second fire was reported at 6:46 a.m. at the intersection of 76th Avenue and 32nd Street Southeast.

"That was a collage of sloughs that were on fire in a ... two-quarter field," he said.

Woehl said four large sloughs were on fire.

"That farmer had been doing a controlled burn, he said, on Friday. And With this wind, the undergrowth that was ... smoldering yet from his prior burn, this wind got to fanning it and rekindled it," Woehl said.

Seven units and 14 firefighters responded and were at the scene for about 2 1/2 hours. Sixty acres burned, he said.

During that call, JRFD was paged at 8:23 a.m. for an assist from the Sanborn Fire Department for a grass fire near a farmstead 2 miles north of exit 272 off of Interstate 94. JRFD sent one truck and three firefighters from the slough fire along with a tanker to that fire, he said.

Another call occurred during the slough fire, at 8:42 a.m. to 7800 24th St., Buchanan, for an electrical power line that was arcing, Woehl said.

"We sent one truck and two firefighters to that scene," he said.

They were there for about 30 minutes, standing by and watching so that no grass fires began in the area where the power lines were arcing until the power company arrived.

Woehl said windy conditions on Sunday made fighting the slough fires "downright brutal.

"It's really tough when the wind's blowing like this," he said.

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for portions of North Dakota including Stutsman County until 6 p.m. Sunday. The weather service said winds of 40 mph were expected with gusts up to 65 mph.