North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum issued a statewide fire emergency on October 3rd, activating the State Emergency Operations Plan to preposition resources for a rapid wildfire response.
Strong winds on Saturday over western and central ND, along with our low humidity values, are going to create a hazardous situation for creating fires and spreading them rapidly. Officials are extremely concerned with the amount of harvest going on, and the risk of fires unintentionally started by harvest equipment.
Angie Johnson, NDSU Extension Coordinator for Farm & Ranch Safety, says “There’s no amount of crop out there that’s worth losing a life, period. So, anything we can do to protect ourselves, protect our workers and honestly, protect that crop, you know, which includes machinery, we need to protect our assets that we invest so much in. And so, taking the extra time to really prioritize yourself which means practicing safe habits, and making sure others are doing the same is going to be huge, especially during this critical fire event situation.”
NDSU Extension has assembled a Crop Harvest Fire Prevention Checklist.
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