UPDATE: Fire continues to burn near Mandaree

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Dunn County Emergency Manager Denise Brew on Saturday, May 1, said the cause of a fire on the Fort Berthold Reservation was still undetermined. PHOTO CREDIT/JODI RAVE

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By Buffalo’s Fire Staff

FORT BERTHOLD RESERVATION, N.D. – A fire burning south of Mandaree, N.D. was being contained on Sunday. It’s expected a coal seam started the fire that has burned an estimated 8,000 acres on the Fort Berthold Reservation. On May 2, a light rain fell helping to lessen the spread of the fire.

Denise Brew, Dunn County Emergency Management, told Buffalo’s Fire that Marle Baker, fire chief of the Mandaree Volunteer Fire Department was on the scene Saturday and unavailable for an update as Baker was in the Badlands area of the reservation.

The area has limited cell reception. As of 10:07 p.m. on May 1, the fire continued to burn. Western North Dakota has been under extreme drought conditions and extreme fire warnings.

Fire burns
A fire continues to burn Saturday, May 1, on the Fort Berthold Reservation. The nearest community is Mandaree, N.D. PHOTO CREDIT/JODI RAVE
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Extreme drought conditions
Western North Dakota remains under extreme drought conditions.

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