Post-Fire Cleanup at Cannon Ball School To Take “Weeks”

CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — The superintendent of a school in Cannon Ball that was damaged in a grass fire on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation says students and staff won't be able to return for a couple of weeks.

Justin Fryer tells KXMB-TV that the elementary school suffered smoke damage in the Sunday fire, and flames melted plastic equipment on the playground.

Classes were canceled Monday and students were being excused Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, students and teachers will go to the high school in Solen.

The blaze started in hay bales north of Cannon Ball and eventually burned nearly 8 square miles. It destroyed three houses and a church in Cannon Ball.

A second reservation fire near Wakpala on Monday grew to about 4.5 square miles before being contained. No structures were threatened.