Bismarck Tribune - Bismarck News - Crews battle Badlands fire

Crews battle Badlands fire

Sep 02, 2004 - 05:03:21 CDT

By MIKE ALBRECHT and LAUREN DONOVAN, Bismarck Tribune

A wildfire in southwestern North Dakota burned 5,000 to 6,000 acres Wednesday and crept into the rare ponderosa pine forest.

The human-caused blaze was fueled by 100-degree temperatures, relative humidities less than 20 percent and wind gusts up to 30 mph, said Ron Jablonski, Medora District ranger for the U.S. Forest Service. Fire crews hoped to gain some control of the blaze overnight and expect to face similar weather conditions today.

The fire began around 12:30 p.m. MDT about 10 miles west of Amidon in Slope County and was burning to the north. About 30 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joined forces with numerous rural fire departments. Jablonski said it's "a rural firefighters' show out there" with Amidon fire chief Dick Frederick in charge.

Also assisting are fire departments from New England, Scranton, Ludlow, S.D., Marmarth, Bowman, Rhame, Golden Valley County and Billings County. Jablonski didn't know the total number of volunteers.

The forest service brought in tanker planes and engines and was "throwing everything at it but the kitchen sink," with more equipment scheduled to arrive during the night, Jablonski said.

Marie Lorge, owner of Georgia's and the Owl bar in Amidon, said her husband is a volunteer, fighting the fire with the Slope County crew. She and an employee at the Pastime Bar in Marmarth said business was slow Wednesday night, likely due to the fire at their doorstep.

"It's close enough," Lorge said. "When I was driving back from Belfield (where she teaches school) I thought Amidon was on fire. I was speeding home."

Lorge said she heard reports of the fire from patrons throughout the day and could see the giant cloud of smoke from the bar. One woman who was at the fire told her "everything that's been in the path of that fire is gone" including a tractor that belongs to Lorge's brother-in-law.

"Everyone says his tractor burned up," she said. "It's sitting up there smoking in the road."

Lorge sent food, water, soda and all of her ice to the fire crews and planned to deliver candy and cookies on her way home.

"We didn't have a salad bar tonight," she said.

Lorge and Cheryl Vandaele, an Amidon area rancher, said the blaze had threatened the Loren Jacobson and Lavonia Hafele ranches, and then shifted east toward the Logging Camp Ranch. Jablonski said firefighters were doing protective work around some farmsteads, but he was not aware of any ranches that were immediately threatened. Firefighters were focusing on ranches on the southeastern fringe of the fire late Wednesday.

No injuries were reported, but Jablonski said the fire has moved into the ponderosa pines.

A prescribed burn has been planned for the 6,000-acre forest in the southern ranges of the Badlands for the last couple of years. The Forest Service, along with the Amidon rural fire department wanted to purposefully set a fire and systematically burn out deadfall to prevent a catastrophic wildfire from taking hold. Prolonged drought postponed the plan.

Jablonski didn't know how far into the pines the fire had spread.

"My guys are fighting fire right now," he said from the Forest Service office in Dickinson. "They're not spending a lot of time talking to us."

The fire, which was on federal, state and private land, was being battled mainly on the ground, though some aircraft from Montana were used.

Bowman County Emergency Manager Dean Pearson said smoke could be seen 50 miles away.

"The smoke has been so thick that even some of the fire departments that are responding have a hard time seeing where they are and where they're going," he said. "It's an extremely serious situation."

The region has been plagued by drought. Three fires in the Badlands earlier this summer burned about 3,500 acres. Authorities believe one was caused by lightning, one by a camp fire and one by an oil well pad. There were no injuries and no structures were harmed.

Jablonski said the cause of this fire is under investigation.

He said firefighters planned to work throughout the night because of today's forecast: 80-degree temperatures, high winds and low relative humitities.

"So it's going to be another tough day of fighting fire," he said.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story. Reach reporter Mike Albrecht at 250-8261 or cops@ndonline.com. Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@westriv.com.)

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Comments

Shannalii wrote on Jun 2, 2008 12:22 PM:

" is this a true story?? cause if it is thats scary i used to live in the palace arms hotel. well i only lived there for like a month and a half. but i was in grade 4, now im in grade 10. me and the other kids that lived there always wondered why no one was allowed on the 7th floor. my mom and my stepdad used to work there too. so did these other people and they got sent to jail because they started a meth-lab up there. but one day the power went out in the whole hotel. i lost my dads ring there in suite 419. i had a lot of fun in that hotel though...i just didnt know it was haunted. "

peewee herman wrote on Apr 10, 2008 2:02 PM:

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PC of Mandan wrote on Dec 11, 2006 10:41 AM:

" Thank you for such a intelligently written report on Senator Dorgan. It's too bad most candidates feel they have to mud sling their apponants to get their ideas across. I would, just once, like to listen to someone talk about the issues, and not bad mouth the other person. I think, this is why Senator Dorgan has been reelected through the years. He talks about the issues and asks questions to get more information on what the people are thinking. "

Online Editor wrote on Nov 8, 2006 1:57 PM:

" To I Know Everything: Each comment is read by the Editor or the Online Editor before it is posted. Your first comment won't be posted because it is potentially libelous. "

i know everything wrote on Nov 8, 2006 1:54 PM:

" umm.... where is my comment? "

GG wrote on Oct 7, 2006 10:00 PM:

" LEGALIZE MARIJUANA. The war on drugs is a waste of tax payers money. People should have the right to decide what goes into their bodies and what doesn't. The government shouldn't own you, correct? "

Quite confused wrote on Aug 10, 2006 10:22 PM:

" I thought this was a football story. "

just me wrote on Aug 5, 2006 2:29 PM:

" What do any of these comments have to do with placing the people who should not be in society in commitments to a state hospital? Why should they have a right to a chance at life when they took any kind of DECENT life of not looking over your shoulder from their victims? Why should they have 3 squares a day and a roof over their head either? I say put them all out on a little island and let them have at eachother for their own sick way or pleasure. Why put the rest of society in jeapordy of their sick ways? All these children who had their INNOCENTS STOLEN, they can never get that back. Why do the offenders have a chance to get theirs back? "

Brenda Coin wrote on Jul 12, 2006 9:51 PM:

" Hello, I am a North Dakota native who currently resides in Missouri. I came here to pursue music. I remember the days of the oil boom in and around Dickinson, ND back in the late 70's and early 80's. My dad is still residing in ND and they recently drilled on his land. I was wondering how I could find out specific info. on what was found after drilling this time. They drilled back in 1983 and it was a dry hole and they found oil this time but I haven't heard any details as to what the results are. How would I get that information? "

Dorothy Hendrickson Tenney wrote on Jul 6, 2006 1:58 PM:

" I had many picnics at the Cave Hills when I was a child and teenager, and don't remember seeing many pictographs or other Indian paintings, so when initials were carved out, we didn't think of it as "Grafitti", just saying we were there. I wish I had known the history of the Hills while I was there, it would have made it even more special. I will always remember the coolness of the valleys and the good spring water. It was our "backyard". "

D. Anderson wrote on Jul 3, 2006 8:00 PM:

" Today's graffiti is the rock art of the future. Look at Pompey's Pillar, where a traveling white man left his mark back in 1806. There is a big celebration planned for Aug. 25 this year to observe 200-year-old graffiti. As an aside, consider the Medicine Rocks State Park near Ekalaka: acres of sandstone covered with inscriptions, yet none call it graffiti. Once you consider a rock to be sacred, you become guilty of idolitry. "

Glenn Andersen wrote on May 2, 2006 12:41 PM:

" Is it just me, but it seems that a lot of foreign companies are crucial to so many of the renewable energy projects going forward in this country. I am not complaining, only wondering why companies based in this country are not leading the way in this industry. "

kim miner at kim77miner77@yahoo.com wrote on Apr 8, 2006 6:52 PM:

" can u help me . please!. I have anceint.rock art/petroghyphic. who or were do I go so I may show this to them. u can contact me. e-mail address is kim77miner77@yahoo.com. or (209)496-8233. (408) 295-7930. I thank you so very much. for any help!. if not thank anyways. Thank you for your time kim miner. "

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