Fighting Oil Fires - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Fighting Oil Fires

As the oil activity increased over the years in western and central North Dakota so too has the need for a more fire fighting services.

Fire crews are trained not to attempt to put out oil well fires, unless someone needs to be rescued from imminent danger.

Their role is one of containment, to keep the fire from spreading off the well or drilling site.

Curtis Freeman, an engineer in Dickinson is also a volunteer assistant fire chief and helped write an education program for fire crews in North Dakota.

Freeman says with the influx of oil activity in our region of the state, fire crews are responding to accidents on the highways and roads that involve equipment and chemicals used in the oil field.

(Curtis Freeman, Dickinson Volunteer Assistant Fire Chief) "Some of the materials going across the road and some of the materials going down the interstate and going on the rail facilities. Through Dickinson we have crude oil, ethanol, hydrochloric acid all kinds of things going through town now."

Freeman says firefighting classes are offered in Dickinson that provide hands-on experience centered on oil field activity.