Jamestown fire crews dispatched to controlled backyard burn pit; department not needed

Crews from the Jamestown Fire Department were dispatched at 9:41 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, to a reported fire at 908 3rd Ave. SE and cleared the scene about nine minutes later, at approximately 9:50 p.m., according to the department’s incident report.

The incident report states the call was determined to be a controlled burn pit in a backyard and that the department was not needed. One truck and 13 firefighters responded to the address, and the report contains no details about injuries, property damage, citations, or follow-up actions.

The department’s brief incident record for the call is consistent with a pared-down staff notification that also listed the 9:41 p.m. dispatch and the roughly 9:50 p.m. clear time. That staff notice included an incomplete sentence indicating no additional information was provided; the department incident report supplies the location and response size that complete the timeline for the Feb. 14 call.

Separate incident reports from the fire department and its chief show other recent, unrelated responses. On a different date in September, incident reports provided by Fire Chief Jim Reuther document an 8:07 p.m. haz-mat response to 124 1st St. E where one unit ventilated a stairwell and cleared at 8:33 p.m., and a 9:44 p.m. vehicle-rescue dispatch to Jamestown Speedway where the person was already out of the vehicle and units cleared by 10:08 p.m. Those September calls are recorded separately from the Feb. 14 backyard burn report.

Another distinct event recorded in neighboring jurisdictions involved a structure fire at 26 Holt Drive in the Stevens Ridge area, where Jamestown and RS fire departments worked with Russell County EMS and multiple agencies. That incident, which involved the transport of an occupant to Russell County Hospital and more than 20 firefighters working for over three hours, appears to be in Russell County and is not the Stutsman County call to 908 3rd Ave. SE.

The Feb. 14 incident report does not indicate whether the controlled burn was permitted under local ordinances or whether any guidance was provided to the resident at 908 3rd Ave. SE. The department’s concise entry leaves those details and any potential enforcement questions unresolved; further confirmation would require direct information from the Jamestown Fire Department or Stutsman County dispatch logs.