Jan Wesner Childs
A wildfire burns near Medora, North Dakota, on Thursday, April 1, 2021.A town in western North Dakota was ordered to evacuate Thursday night as a wildfire fueled by dry, windy conditions swept through a cemetery and threatened a historic amphitheater.
Police went door to door alerting the 100 residents of Medora, which sits on the southern edge of Theodore Roosevelt National Park off of Interstate 94 near the Montana border.
They have since been allowed to return home.
Initial estimates indicated the fire had burned about 15 square miles, but a closer inspection on Friday morning led officials to decrease that number to about 5 square miles, according to the Grand Forks Herald.
"Right now we're calling it 50% contained, and it was a very difficult fight through the night because of the topography the fire was in with how rugged the Badlands are," Major Dean Wyckoff, Billings County Sheriff's Office, told the Herald.
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The interstate was temporarily closed to allow better access for emergency responders, according to the U.S. Forest Service Dakota Prairie Grasslands Office. The agency said smoke was also impacting travel.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or burned buildings. Crews kept flames away from the historic Burning Hills Amphitheatre.
"Firefighters were actively working the east flank of the fire, trying to keep it out of any structures in (that) area," U.S. Forest Service spokesman Rob Schilling told the Bismarck Tribune.
The blaze started around 1:30 p.m. and was sparked by a sagging power line, according to Billings County Chief Deputy Maj. Dean Wyckoff.
Red flag warnings were in effect Friday for much of North Dakota and western South Dakota, as well as parts of Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. The National Weather Service office in Bismarck warned of critical fire conditions over most of southwest and central North Dakota due to a combination of low humidity and northwest winds gusting to 30 mph.
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While there is a chance of some rain next week, weather.com meteorologist Linda Lam said Friday morning that the windy weather will persist into the weekend and warm, dry conditions are expected at least into next week.
Much of the state is under extreme or severe drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. As is the case with most of the U.S., temperatures are predicted to be higher than normal for the rest of spring and into the summer.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum issued a statewide wildfire emergency early Thursday evening and authorized the National Guard to assist in state and local fire response. Two UH60 Blackhawk helicopters were deployed to Billings County, where they shuttled water to help fight and contain the Medora fire, the governor said on Twitter.
The Billings County Commission also declared a state of emergency.
More than 140 recent wildfires have burned over 46 square miles in North Dakota, the Associated Press reported.
Wildfires spreading in the Black Hills of South Dakota earlier this week forced evacuations and shut down Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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