An apartment block to the south of Watford City in North Dakota was temporarily evacuated following a fire at a nearby oil treatment center which broke out at about 6.30 pm local time on Saturday 14 February 2015, according to McKenzie County Emergency Management. Local fire crews were able to extinguish the fire in about half an hour, and residents were able to return to their homes later that evening. There is thought to have been no threat to human health from the incident, with the evacuations being carried out purely as a precaution.
Fire at an oil treatment center near Watford City, North Dakota, on 15 February 2015. Clayton Bjornson/KXNews.
An oil boom in North Dakota led to tens of thousands of people migrating in search of work, with many living in trailer parks, prefabricated barracks-style buildings or even sleeping in tents or cars. However the industry is becoming a cause of rising concern, and since 2010 has accounted for half of all industrial deaths in the state.
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