JRFD responds to semi-truck fire in rural Stutsman County

A semi-truck fire in rural Stutsman County pulled the Jamestown Rural Fire Department into the kind of call that can stretch a volunteer crew across Jamestown and 22 surrounding townships. The department covers rural Jamestown and a large swath of the county, where every fire can mean miles of travel before crews ever reach the scene.

JRFD has long operated as a volunteer department, and a 2018 account put its roster at 28 volunteers. That same report said the department had been based at 205 3rd Avenue Northwest since 1964, a single station serving a district that reaches far beyond the city limits and into the township road network that ties rural residents to town.

The semi-truck response fit a pattern JRFD has dealt with before. In June 2021, the department was called to a recycling truck fire along 37th Avenue SE in Jamestown at 12:44 p.m. and rolled 7 trucks with 17 firefighters. Other calls have shown how quickly conditions can move outside town, including a controlled burn near Jamestown that got away and caused damage to roughly 3 or 4 acres, and a grassland fire that burned more than 500 acres.

That workload has helped drive recent investment in equipment. JRFD received a 2024 Jamestown Community Foundation grant tied to a new pumper truck, then a 2026 grant for battery-operated extrication tools and stabilization equipment. For a department responsible for rural Jamestown and 22 townships in Stutsman County, those upgrades matter on fires that start far from town and can demand heavy equipment, fast decisions and enough manpower to keep a scene under control.