BISMARCK – Red Flag Warnings have been persistent across much of the state over the weekend and into the beginning parts of the week, reflective of the dry and windy conditions that continue. 

Over the weekend, engines and crews were staged throughout the state to quickly respond and reinforce local firefighters as fires popped up. These engines and firefighters included the North Dakota Wildland Taskforce, North Dakota Forest Service, and a team from Colorado.

Twenty fires broke out on Sunday alone. The North Dakota Watch Center, a 24-hour monitoring and notification center within the Department of Emergency Services, was notified of fires in Slope County (1), Sargent County (2), Morton County (2), LaMoure County (2), Hettinger County (1), Dickey County (1), Logan County (1), Adams County (1), McKenzie County (2), Dunn County (1), Spirit Lake Sioux County (2), Turtle Mtn Chippewa (1), Ward County (1), Rolette County (1) and Kidder County (1). 

In total, 60 fire starts were reported over the weekend, burning over 1,100 new acres in addition to the acres burning in the ongoing Turtle Mountain fire complex. 

Significant fires include one northeast of Glen Ullin (Morton County) that burned 500 acres. A field fire northeast of McClusky (Sheridan County) burned one tractor and 125 acres. Response included local, state, and out-of-state response. A fire southwest of Sherwood (Renville County) on Saturday burned one outbuilding and called in four local local fire departments. These are all considered inactive.

Two grassfires broke out in the ongoing fire complex in the Turtle Mountain area. The total acreage estimate remains at 3,600 acres, is still active, and is anticipated to be a long-lived event. 

“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. Thank you. Every fire we don’t start is one that our firefighters don’t have to go fight, putting themselves in danger,” says Darin Hanson, Director of Homeland Security within the Department of Emergency Services. “We all need to keep working together to prevent wildfires and support our first responders.”

The Fire Danger Ratings are calculated using inputs such as long-term climate information; short-term weather patterns; and indicators like relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and fuel conditions on the ground (how dry the grasses are, for example). Weather information inputs to the Fire Danger Ratings are provided by the National Weather Service, while fuel conditions are based on a variety of inputs and modeling. 

The ratings are low, moderate, high, very high, and extreme. Additionally, there are fire weather watches and red flag warnings that can be issued for heightened public awareness of critical fire weather conditions. 

The fire danger ratings are indicative of the threat of fire growth, not necessarily the threat of fire starts. Should a fire ignite, it is more likely that it will spread rapidly during higher fire danger rating days.