Warm, dry and windy conditions contributed to two fires in the oil patch Sunday, one sparked from a natural gas compression station 4 miles southeast of Keene that burned through about 900 acres.
A second, much smaller fire, started mid-afternoon about 3 miles east of Alexander when someone target shooting sparked off the dry grass and stubble, burning about 200 acres.
Both locations are in McKenzie County, where emergency manager Karolin Jappe said a burn ban goes into effect Tuesday to try to minimize more fires while conditions remain so dry.
Keene Fire Chief John Rolfsrud said crews from Keene and Watford City put 11 trucks on the fire that stretched about 2.5 miles before it was stopped. The fire was reported about 3:30 p.m.
“The wind was blowing pretty good, and the fire moved pretty quick,” said Rolfsrud, indicating the region is about a month ahead of its normal spring fire season.
No structures or equipment were threatened, though some fence posts were likely damaged as the fire moved through privately owned pasture and stubble fields, he said.
Rolfsrud said the fire started at the compression station, though he didn’t know if was caused by a flare stack or some other equipment. The compression station is owned by ONEOK, operator of a natural gas gathering and processing facility in the area.
The connection to an industry-caused fire was similar to one in April, when more than 3,000 acres were burned after a Whiting Petroleum flare touched off dry grass in a red-flag warning wind. Most damage from that fire was in a federally owned pasture though it did burn toward the Tobacco Gardens Resort area on Lake Sakakawea, northeast of Watford City.
Jappe said all burning, even those covered by permit, will be banned when the fire index is high and red-flag warnings are in effect. She’ll post warning updates on the McKenzie County Emergency Management Facebook page.
Reach Lauren Donovan at 701-220-5511 or lauren@westriv.com
