Three rural fires reported Friday

Friday the area saw three different, unrelated fires, according to scanner reports.

The Jamestown Rural Fire Department was first dispatched to a report of a grass fire near the town of Buchanan, N.D.

The fire was reported to be east of the town on the other side of U.S. Highway 281. The call for the fire came at about 1:30 p.m. — just hours after county officials announced a warning of significant fire danger caused by high winds and low humidity.

JRFD Chief Rick Woehl said the fire started in a ditch, spread for about half a mile and was likely caused by a cigarette. There was no serious property damage.

The Jamestown Rural Fire Department was dispatched again to a report of a fire south of Eldridge, N.D., according to scanner reports.

The fire was reported at about 5:45 p.m. and was located in some brush or a field about one-quarter of a mile south of the Eldridge exit on Interstate 94, which is about five miles west of Jamestown.

Woehl said the department was dispatched but the property owners had the fire contained, and cancelled the call.

A corn field near Kensal, N.D., was reported to be on fire at 2:15 p.m. Friday, according to scanner reports. The Kensal Fire Department was dispatched to the scene.

The field is located 7 to 8 miles west of Kensal and 2 miles south, it’s believed to be 3 to 4 miles northwest of the Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge headquarters. More information wasn’t immediately available.

“It’s just dry, that about says it all. It’s dry, there’s no green left, the frost has taken all the green out of the plants and it’s just dry,” Woehl said. “It’s fuel waiting to go.”

He advised against burning in windy and dry conditions like what Jamestown had on Friday.

“The potential is there for it to burn hundreds of acres,” Woehl said on Friday. “On a day like today when the wind is blowing roads don’t mean anything.”

Tags: local news, news, fires