Fire sparks at Watford City industrial facility; evacuation ordered

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An industrial facility near Watford City caught fire Tuesday morning, sending multi-colored smoke bellowing and causing the evacuation of some area residents.

McKenzie County Emergency Manager Jerry Samuelson said there were no injuries reported due to the fire, which broke out at Steve’s Spray Foam, about a mile southeast of Watford City. Samuelson said units were called to the fire at 9:30 a.m.

“We’re very fortunate,” Samuelson said. “(Employees) were trying to take stuff out of the building, but they only got a few items out before the building was fully engulfed.”

Several homes along a nearby road and what Samuelson described as a “man camp” with about 30 trailers were evacuated, although individuals were allowed back to their homes in a matter of hours.

SSF is an owner-operated business that provides insulation solutions for tanks used in the hydraulic fracturing process, according to its website. Samuelson said SSF representatives told him that items used by the company were “non-toxic.”

“Obviously, one of the things we were concerned was the presence of chemicals in the building,” Samuelson said. “They told us that the stuff they had was non-toxic, but, when we started looking at the plume, it was pink and green and black.”

McKenzie County Rural Fire Protection, along with several other local agencies, and at least one Power Fuels water truck responded to the blaze, Samuelson said. Samuelson said the North Dakota Department of Health was investigating the fire.

Messages left by The Press for SSF Vice President Tim Mammalis were not returned as of Wednesday evening.

Tags: watford city, oil, news, fire, smoke