Compiled by LAUREN DONOVAN

Bismarck Tribune

This time, the fire call was to Wayne Schlepp's place, who called in to report 72 bales of last year's hay were burning about 500 yards from his home. The wind was blowing at 40 mph, but thankfully in a direction away from his house.

Schlepp pulled some bales away with his tractor and firefighters pulled other burning bales apart and doused them with water. The responders ended up "baby-sitting" the fire for about nine hours.

Schlepp said he didn't know what caused the fire and suggested lightning.

He slept some during the night, but admitted, "I don't want to say that I'm paranoid, but I did clean the lint filter on the dryer before I went to bed."

Three weeks ago, firefighters responded to a house fire at the home of Wayne Schlepp's brother, Scott.

Scott and Ermaline Schlepp lost their rural home and most of its contents in a blaze attributed to some faulty wiring.

Scott and Ermaline Schlepp are the same couple who turned their barn into "The Hayloft" theater and continue to stage productions there, even in the aftermath of the fire. Their fire happened the day Gov. John Hoeven had promised to come to visit the unique theater in their farmyard.

- Ashley Tribune

Finger in the dike

Lake Sakakawea is up 17 feet since spring, and the surprise rise has pleased everyone who enjoys the big reservoir lake of Garrison Dam.

The rising water has caused some additional work for the construction crew excavating a new deep-water marina at Fort Stevenson State Park near Garrison.

The construction crew built a coffer dam to hold lake water away while the marina is being dug out, but the unexpected and rapid rise of the lake had them scrambling for a while.

Originally, the plan called for building the coffer dam to 1,825 feet elevation, but with the lake just shy of that elevation, plans are to heighten the dam to 1,830 feet.

The crew scrambled last week to get the coffer dam to 1,827 feet as a stopgap measure because 50 mph winds and the attendant wave action were threatening to erode the structure.

Scott Samuelson, Martin Construction's project manager, said putting rock on top of the coffer dam prevented leaking until more work can be done.

Mark Maylander, project overseer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, gave credit to Martin Construction for quick action.

"We are putting our full effort on the coffer dam right now," Maylander said.

The corps expects the trend of rising water to continue a bit longer, with another 2 to 3 feet still to come this month.

The lake is getting a strong inflow from the Yellowstone River and the release through Garrison Dam into the Missouri River will continue well below normal for at least another month.

- McLean County Independent

Hero arrives

Billings County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Kastrow received a nice surprise earlier this month.

Kastrow's boss, Sheriff Dave Jurgens, nominated the deputy for the North Dakota Peace Officer's Lifesaver Award, and a plaque was presented to him at a small ceremony at the Billings County Courthouse in Medora.

Kastrow was credited for quick thinking and outstanding performance in saving the life of Mike Bloomgren, a Missouri Basin Well Service driver, who collapsed after being overcome by poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas at an oil well northeast of the Paul Kessel farm in March.

Bloomgren, of Scranton, said the wind direction was favorable for blowing the gas away from where he was working, but then suddenly switched.

Two other workers saw Bloomgren "go down," and a call went to Kastrow, who happened to be just four miles away.

Kastrow applied oxygen and blankets, and a doctor said Bloomgren would have died without the oxygen. As it was, his inhibited circulation also caused Bloomgren to sustain a heart attack.

Bloomgren was eager to express his thanks when he met Kastrow at the ceremony.

"I've heard a lot about how good you are and wanted to meet you," he told Kastrow.

- Billings County Pioneer