North Dakota submits federal disaster declaration request for wildfires
A burned power pole sits off 109th Avenue between Ray and Tioga, N.D., after fires came through the area on Oct. 5, 2024. (Jacob Orledge/North Dakota Monitor)
Gov. Doug Burgum on Thursday formally requested a presidential disaster declaration for northwest North Dakota counties burned by wildfires in October.
The letter to President Joe Biden said statewide damage is expected to exceed $8 million but the disaster request is only for Williams and McKenzie counties.
Rural electrical cooperatives in McKenzie and Williams counties sustained damage estimated at $3.7 million during the Oct. 5-6 wildfires.
To be eligible for a presidential declaration, counties must surpass a per-capita threshold of damage costs. The counties of Mountrail, Ward, Dunn and Oliver also were hit by wildfires but didn’t sustain enough damage to exceed the threshold, the letter said.
Damage didn’t meet the thresholds for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“These fast-spreading wildfires were unlike anything North Dakota has experienced in recent memory, claiming two lives and causing widespread damage to utilities and other public infrastructure as well as homes, land and livestock,” Burgum said in a statement.
Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative and McKenzie Electric Cooperative sustained power outages, with reports of nearly 50 residences without power five days after the fires broke out.
Mountrail-Williams Electric also reported 427 poles needed to be replaced with more than 110 linemen working on restoring power. McKenzie Electric reported approximately 200 power poles that needed to be replaced due to impact from fire.
The state fire marshal has concluded that natural gas flares from oil wells combined with high winds and dry vegetation contributed to starting at least two of the fires.
A total of 190 fires occurred in North Dakota in October, burning 126,273 acres, according to the state Department of Emergency Services.
Farmers and ranchers sustained significant losses.
Agricultural damages included 270 livestock deaths; six herds suffered health impacts, with 38 livestock still missing. Approximately 14,000 acres of pasture and rangeland were lost, 19,000 acres of cropland suffered damage and 1,150 hay bales burned. Fires destroyed nearly 37,000 feet of shelterbelt and damaged 110 miles of fence.
Other damage to ag-related private property and individual infrastructure included 11 buildings, two corrals, six water tanks, 30,000 bushels of stored grain, five wooden granaries and 10 pieces of machinery and parts, including a combine.
North Dakota State University Extension did an agricultural damage assessment but the full scale of damage is unknown, said Miranda Meehan, NDSU Extension disaster education coordinator.
“It takes decades to build up genetics within beef cattle herds, and in a matter of hours, those animals and their future generations were lost,” Meehan said in a news release. “Farmers have lost large amounts of soil due to erosion, which may take decades to rebuild. Grassland production will be decreased, supporting fewer grazing animals in 2025 and perhaps beyond, depending on precipitation.”
People affected by wildfires can find financial, mental and physical recovery resources at ndresponse.gov/wildfire-recovery.
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