At approximately 3:44 PM on Monday, February 12, 2018, the Central Dakota Communications Center received a report of a fire at a trailer house at the 700 block of West Sweet Avenue. The Bismarck Fire Department was dispatched to investigate. While in-route to the scene, the fire crew was advised that the fire was out. The first arriving fire crew reported a single wide trailer house with no smoke or fire showing, and the skirting removed from the east side of the building. The fire crew established command and went to investigate. They found a soot pattern above the removed section of skirting and several discharged portable hand held fire extinguishers on the ground. Bystanders stated that workers had been using a space heater to thaw frozen pipes, located on the underside of the trailer and ignited combustible materials. Fire crews investigated the underside of the trailer and found smoldering materials. An overhaul was conducted where the fire crew removed smoldering materials and used a thermal imaging camera to scan for heat. Two water extinguishers were used to wet down the affected area on the underside of the trailer. When the overhaul operation was complete the scene was turned over to the property owner. The fire crew cleared the scene at approximately 4:24 PM.
At approximately 5:34 PM on Monday, February 12, 2018, the Central Dakota Communications Center received a report of a fire at the same trailer house on the 700 block of West Sweet Avenue. The Bismarck Fire Department was dispatched to investigate. The first arriving fire crew reported a single wide trailer house with heavy smoke showing from the exterior. The fire crew established command and conducted a scene size-up. The scene size-up found smoke coming from the underside of the trailer and from the interior of the trailer where several windows were broken out. The fire crew removed skirting from the side of the trailer then deployed a fire attack hoseline to cool the underside. Fire crews then moved to the front deck, where they sprayed water through a window to cool the interior before forcing the door to make entry. When the fire crew entered the trailer they found heavy smoke and high heat. Additional fire units arrived and assisted with establishing a water supply and fire attack. Two more hoselines were deployed to assist with fire attack, one to the interior and one the underside of the trailer. When the fire was extinguished and the building ventilated, an extensive overhaul was conducted.
Five fire department apparatus and 13 firefighters were dispatched to the scene. Bismarck Police Department assisted with scene control. Metro Area Ambulance was on scene to provide assistance. Montana Dakota Utilities assisted with securing utilities. The fire was determined to be on the underside and the central portions of the trailer and the building was unoccupied at the time of the fire. There was heavy fire and heat damage to the underside and the center portion of the building and heavy smoke damage throughout. The estimated property loss for this incident was $10,000. The cause of this fire has been determined to be accidental.