Three calls in 12 hours for Arnegard Fire Department
By Jack Dura
Farmer Staff Writer
It’s not even August and the Arnegard Rural Fire Department has already surpassed its total number of calls for last year.
Three calls came into the department between 4:30 p.m. Sunday and 4:30 a.m. Monday, including a fire in tall weeds and grass north of the McKenzie County landfill near 132nd Avenue Northwest and 25th Street Northwest.
“A gentleman decided it would be a really good idea to do some welding out in the tall grass,” said Arnegard Fire Chief Rick Schreiber. “It took off.”
The fire burned an abandoned RV and covered an area about 10 acres in size, he added, made difficult to fight due to the height of the 3-foot weeds.
“You could see the smoke and you could hear the fire but you couldn’t see the fire,” Schreiber said. He called for mutual aid from Watford City and firefighters with vehicles from there as well as McKenzie County sheriff’s deputies responded, along with a few oilfield companies.
E & M Services and R & R Services helped create a fire break with various equipment while Clean Harbors helped suppress flames with a pressure washer truck, Schreiber added. Sheriff’s deputies also tackled flames with fire extinguishers.
For the full story, subscribe to the McKenzie County Farmer