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Veeder: 'All of western North Dakota is on fire'

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Veeder: 'All of western North Dakota is on fire'


WATFORD CITY, N.D. — I stand on my back deck and look up at the night sky. The air is still and cool, and the stars are twinkling among the shine of the Northern Lights. It’s a welcome sight, a sort of calm before the restless night of sleep I would experience when I lay down that night beside my exhausted husband.

Just two days before, white and gray smoke billowed and bubbled and raged ominously from that same horizon to the northeast of our house, the high winds pushing a

massive wildfire away

and in our favor and saving us from having to worry about evacuation or trenching around our home.

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Our phones buzzed, warning us that everything between mile marker 138 and 148 on Highway 22, and one mile west and east on each side needed to be evacuated.

Our ranch is three miles west of mile marker 135.

Residents from Mandaree, the little town just seven or so miles northeast of us as the crow flies, were told to leave as rural firefighters and Black Hawk helicopters worked to save it. I could see them from my back deck, black specks moving across the sky, the thick gray plumes of smoke making those helicopters look like children’s toys. It seemed like an impossible task as the wind kicked up 70 mph gusts, snapping powerlines and wreaking havoc across the prairie.

This image shows a map of the western North Dakota wildfires surrounding Jessie Veeder’s ranch.

Contributed / Jessie Veeder

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Just an hour or so earlier that day, my friend 10 miles to the north of us looked out her kitchen window and saw smoke burning the corrals and old outbuildings of an abandoned homestead directly to the east of her. She called 911 in a panic.

All the rural firefighters she knew, including her husband, including mine, including dozens and dozens of other friends and community members, were fighting fires five or so miles to the north of her by our church on the other side of the Blue Buttes. She hung up with dispatch and called all the neighbors she could think of who could possibly be in its path and then loaded her kids in the car and sat helplessly watching the grass and trees catch fire.

The night before, around 2 a.m., all volunteer first responders who were available in our community were called to the scene of a fire that had erupted near the town of Arnegard. During the night, the winds had picked up to 50-60 mph, and it would take three days to get that fire contained while more and more resources were deployed and more fires sparked and spread.

That one fire was more than enough to handle, but in the next 24 hours, I heard my husband on the other end of the phone line say in his steady, stern voice: “All of western North Dakota is on fire.”

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The Elkhorn fire, the Bear Den fire, the Charleson fire, the Arnegard fire, the Ray fire, the big ones … they all have names to us now, but in the heat of raging wind and black walls of smoke, to my husband and those on the front lines, it felt like everywhere they turned, there were more flames.

I looked to the north of the house, the east, the south, nearly every horizon was billowing smoke.

“It feels like we’re surrounded here, Chad,” I told him, hoping he had more information than I did that would reassure me that our place wasn’t in danger.

“Well, you are. You are surrounded,” he replied with a reality that many many more were facing, even more dangerously than us in that very moment.

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In every direction, Jessie Veeder watched wildfire smoke surround her ranch.

Contributed / Jessie Veeder

I learned that sitting in our house with a direct line to social media reports from neighbors and emergency management offices, I might have had more information on the scope of the fires than the men and women focused on moving inch by inch in the black of the night and relentless howl of the wind, fighting for homes and land and the livelihoods that depend on it.

“I have never seen anything like this in my life,” my husband said as he drove his truck from one fire location to the next, trying to fill me in as best as he could when he could. “We can’t see anything out here, it’s like a black wall of smoke and dust. It’s absolutely out of control.”

I stood in the house, helpless and anxious. We had company from Bismarck. They had come to fill an Elk tag, but our fun weekend turned on a dime and we were left to distract one another, to feed one another, and to analyze and speculate and wait for the clock to hit 10 p.m. when the weather report promised a calmer wind.

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My dad took to the hills to watch for any signs of new flames close to us. I watched my phone for any more updates. I called and texted neighbors. I worried about them. And then I worried about us. And then I worried about my husband and everyone out there in an unprecedented situation, doing the best they could against Mother Nature, who turns from companion to rival at the suck of a breath.

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Volunteer firefighters like these from the Keene, North Dakota, fire department watched hot spots on Monday to prevent additional spread. Jessie Veeder’s husband Chad is third from left.

Contributed / Megan Pennington

The winds did die down around 10 p.m., and it was close to 1 in the morning when my husband called and said he was headed home for now. My dad came off the hilltop. We all looked at my soot-covered, exhausted husband and waited for what he wanted to tell us.

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The next day and the day after that, he was out again, mopping up flare-ups, assessing the damage, fixing the trucks, checking in. Some men have barely left the fire sites, too nervous to look away as the repercussions of a wind shift could put their houses in danger.

As I write this, some big flames are still raging in the badlands at the Elkhorn fire, putting ranches at risk and the National Guard to work. The Bear Den fire is contained but still burning. The wind shifts and dry conditions keep the first responders and ranchers watching the hot spots and continuing to put out flames. The helicopters land and take off and scoop water from Lake Sakakawea. The planes dump.

All across western North Dakota, a person will tell you their own story about these fires for years to come. Two men who lost their lives won’t get the chance. At least four homes were lost. Livestock were lost and killed. Early law enforcement reports indicate

nearly 90,000 acres in Williams County were destroyed,

with more in the surrounding counties.

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My husband comes home from the fire hall and steps out on the deck next to me to watch those Northern Lights. His hair and skin smell like smoke and ashes. The light of two helicopters moved across the sky, little beacons of hope among the stars.

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Just days after catastrophic wildfires burned through western North Dakota, a beautiful display of Northern Lights lit up the night sky.

Contributed / Jessie Veeder


READ MORE OF JESSIE’S COMING HOME COLUMNS

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Jessie Veeder module photo

Greetings from the ranch in western North Dakota and thank you so much for reading. If you’re interested in more stories and reflections on rural living, its characters, heartbreaks, triumphs, absurdity and what it means to live, love and parent in the middle of nowhere, check out more of my Coming Home columns below. As always, I love to hear from you! Get in touch at jessieveeder@gmail.com.





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North Dakota

Obituary for Grace Mary Kegler at Gregory J. Norman Funeral Chapel

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Obituary for Grace Mary Kegler at Gregory J. Norman Funeral Chapel


Grace M. Kegler, 94, of Grand Forks, ND passed away Monday, December 23, 2024, at Edgewood Vista in East Grand Forks, MN. Memorial Liturgy 1100 a.m. Saturday, December 28, 2024, with a 1030 a.m. Rosary Service in the Historic Norman Funeral Home Chapel. Family Greeting 1000 a.m. to 1100 a.m.



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Alabama's AP Poll ranking revealed after wins vs. North Dakota, Kent State

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Alabama's AP Poll ranking revealed after wins vs. North Dakota, Kent State


Coming out of a difficult non-conference span of games, this past week was likely a step down in competition for the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team.

Beginning on Wednesday night, the Crimson Tide did what most programs do not often do, traveling across the country mid-week for a true road game against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Alabama would however win that contest in a closer game than most expected, 97-90, and then returned home Sunday for a showdown with the Kent State Golden Flashes in which they were victorious, 81-54.

Because of these results, Alabama now sits at 10-2 overall for the 2024-25 season with the Crimson Tide’s non-conference schedule winding down, and the start of SEC play looming in early-January.

However, just how much did these results affect Alabama’s AP Poll Top 25 ranking, if at all?

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After carrying a ranking of No. 6 last week, Alabama rose one spot up to No. 5 in the latest AP Poll released Monday afternoon. The Crimson Tide were also the third highest-ranked SEC team, trailing only No. 1 Tennessee and No. 2 Auburn.

Riding a four-game winning streak, the Crimson Tide will officially be back in action this upcoming Sunday, Dec. 29 at home against South Dakota State, with tipoff set for 3 p.m. ET on either SEC Network+ or ESPN+.



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WATCH: 'The Masked Man' for North Dakota State Basketball

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WATCH: 'The Masked Man' for North Dakota State Basketball


It has been a year of adjusting for North Dakota State Junior Guard Brennan Watkins, who has found a new home in Fargo after two seasons at VMI.

“It’s different in the stand point that I get to just focus on basketball more. At VMI there was military, a lot of academics and then basketball was kind of an after thought. Obviously there is time for academics but I have more time to be in the gym and get more shots up,” said Watkins looking back at his time out east.

As the Missouri native navigates his first season with the green and gold, Watkins also has to adjust to some new headgear after a gruesome injury in the game against Weber State earlier this season.

“I didn’t even know where I got hit. I just knew there was pain radiating around my face. My reaction was to just put my hands to my face. I kind of took my hands away and my hands were just completely filled with blood and I was like oh no that’s not good” he said.

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Watkins suffered a compound fracture breaking his nose in two places.

“When I was at the game the team doctor readjusted it partially there and they said it was too swollen to completely adjust it. I think once I go back to the doctor they are going to adjust it a second time too. There is not pain but it is difficult to breathe. I’m not really getting as much airflow through my nose as I am used to” said Watkins describing his challenges with the broken nose.

Despite the injury, Watkins hasn’t missed a game or a beat becoming the “Masked Man” for the Bison.

“It’s completely different. I can’t really see out of my peripherals. Once I start to sweat the clear mask starts to fog up so that creates another problem. It’s truly difficult. I don’t think people understand how much of a difference it makes,” he said.

“Brennan has always been a really talented basketball player. Gifted offensive player and we have challenged him on the little things, the winning plays and he is starting to understand those and execute those things and that’s the next step for him,” said NDSU Head Coach, Dave Richman.

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A warrior, Watkins is determined to stay on the floor and make those winning plays for North Dakota State.

“Just do anything for my team and help them win that is just kind of the player I am. It doesn’t matter if I have a broken nose. If I am able to play I’m going to be out there,” said Watkins.

The Bison Men’s Basketball Team has one more non-conference match up against CSU-Bakersfield on Monday night before conference play begins on January, 2nd.

Sam Goetzinger joined WDAY News as a reporter and anchor in 2022 after graduating from St. Cloud State University. Sam worked alongside his Dad in the radio industry for 10 years in his hometown of New Prague, Minnesota before heading off to college. Along with his news responsibilities, Sam also handles play-by-play duties for North Dakota and Minnesota high school athletics.
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Reach Sam at sgoetzinger@wday.com or follow him on X.





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