Low river levels lead to December bonfire

With November snowless and December co-operating these unusual warm, dry winter days are allowing contractors and city crews to get a bigger dent in work usually halted by now.

Just off Broadway in North Fargo, it’s a time to light up what the spring flood left behind - dead trees and debris that floated into ditches. With river levels on the Red down drastically, street and forestry crews have been taking advantage of snowless, dry, frostless weather, to burn the trees that have piled up near the river.

Scott Liudahl – Fargo Forestry: “Helps keep the area clean and once the water comes up in the spring it helps control the debris.”

City crews could have actually loaded up this dead wood and hauled it to the landfill but burning it is actually cheaper.

Scott Liudahl: “Today the wind temp everything just fell into place.”

Tom's Backhoe out of Brainerd has been able to stretch the fall contractor season dramatically

Terrell Thompson – Tom’s Backhoe: “We are not slipping and sliding around these hills, not greasy.”

Another phase of the Sheyenne River Diversion dredging work continues.

Who would think summer bonfires near the water would still stretch into the week before Christmas.

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