Local, state, tribal and federal crews worked through the weekend dealing with a number of fires in northwest and north central North Dakota.
The fires claimed one life, and seriously injured another.
26 year old Johannes Nicholas Van Eeden of South Africa died due to a fire In the Ray area.
Firefighters were able to save the city of Mandaree, which was threatened by the Bear Den fire. That blaze burned over 25,000 acres.
The city of Ray was also spared. Ray fire chief Kyle Weyrauch said he's never seen anything like it.
"It was a scene of Armageddon, almost," Weyrauch said. "We had trucks on both the north and south sides that couldn't keep up with it."
Weyrauch said farmers in the area put their equipment on the line to create a barrier around the town.
A state legislator from Arnegard said the city escaped the fires.
"The Arnegard fire was just on the north of the city," said Rep. Jeremy Olson (R-Arnegard). "There were some evacuations — not in Arnegard, but some housing to the north of that."
Olson said he and other Arnegard residents worked to support the firefighters. He said the local Legion club became a “logistical center” to serve them.
"We have a bunch of old veterans that probably aren't in the best shape to go out and fight fires," Olson said. "But we could help with logistics."
Olson said they put together a supply chain for the firefighters.
"We put together packages of things like food, snacks, wet wipes, clean socks — all the things that the firefighters need, to basically keep them out there and in the fight, Olson said. "It was an honor for us to do that,"
KFGO's Paul Jurgens contributed to this story.
