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Firefighters were reporting 85% containment and an estimated 2,276 acres burned as of Sunday morning in the grass fire near Medora that began on Thursday, according to the North Dakota Forest Service.
Meanwhile, a wind shift caused the loss of a brush truck in a separate fire near Williston Saturday.
The Forest Service reported another fire on USDA Forest Service national grasslands on Saturday that burned into the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. This fire was estimated at 30% contained Sunday morning, burning roughly 1,000 acres.
The North Unit visitor center was reported at risk Sunday. The North Unit of the park is closed, as is the CCC Campground across the Little Missouri River to the south of the park.
Bravo unit and two air tankers were called in for assistance from South Dakota on Saturday. The tankers delivered one drop each. This fire is in very rough, inaccessible terrain and extreme drought conditions make fire suppression difficult.
Also on Saturday, the Williston Rural Fire Department had been dispatched to a brush fire north of Williston, requesting mutual aid from the Williston Fire Department. The Williston department responded with three brush trucks and two tender trucks, an apparatus that specializes in the transport of water from a water source to a fire.
While the Williston department was working one of the fire's flanks, the wind shifted, and the fire rapidly overtook Brush Truck #3. Personnel were able to evacuate and were evaluated with no injuries. Brush Truck #3 was confirmed as a total loss.
Firefighters and personnel from Grenora, Wild Rose, Alamo, Minot, Fairview, Epping, Ray, Tioga, and Williams County/Williston Emergency Management also responded.
The cause of the brush fire remains undetermined.