Rural Fire Departments Have Busy Fire Seasons - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Rural Fire Departments Have Busy Fire Seasons

Red flag warnings, and burn bans have been in place much of this summer already, and fire experts in our region say it doesn't look like that will quiet down until the first snowfall.

There's been a burn ban in Morton County off and on since spring.

Mandan Rural Fire chief Lynn Gustin says that they've had to respond to way more fires this year than last.

Even Gustin was not spared from a grass fire on his farm this year.

It was believed to have been started by a lightning strike but was contained quickly.

All of the firefighters are volunteers at Mandan Rural.

With a current burn ban in place they are asking residents to follow the rules in these hot, dry conditions.

 "My recommendation is to try and hold off burning doing anything until we get snow on the ground or we get a lot of wet weather because the vegetation is dry it is dead its basically even if you get a lot of rain the next day could be like today it dries off and it can burn again." says Lynn Gustin/Mandan Rural Fire Chief.

The entire state is currently at a HIGH risk on the North Dakota fire index map.