RAY, ND (KXNET) — One community came together over the weekend after a fire hit their town. Between 25,000 to 35,000 acres were burning in Ray this weekend. Because of the blazes, fields, cars, utility poles, and some buildings were left burned or blackened. Carrie Pederson of Ray shares her experience of the fire, and what it was like having a husband who is one of the many firefighters working to put it out. "It was just very surreal, because Jeremy was gone fighting fires and I am at home, I am trying to get information to him and from him about what I should do, how soon we should leave, if we should," Pederson said. "It was very scary, surreal, a little bit of denial, thinking, well, it is going to be fine because they are fighting it and it is not going to get here, but it was moving much quicker than anyone anticipated with those high winds." She says an employee used a tractor to make a fire break behind their farm, but the flames reached their shelter belt. When their tree row was on fire, it slid around the shelter belt and their barn caught on fire, burning down. The community of Ray came together during this hard time. "I've heard counts of 8-90 different fire apparatus, into the teens on industrial equipment road graders, bull dozers, countless farmers with tractors, cultivators, and discs killing fire lines, and a countless number of oilfield trucks hauling us water," Fire Chief Kyle Weyrauch said. "We had more water than we needed, which is good." Large wildfires continue to burn in western North Dakota Weyrauch says there were two separate fires, and they did not merge. He also adds that they got the call at 3:03 in the afternoon and those fires were extinguished at night. He said the fires are 95% contained. Nathan Schell shares with me what it was like fighting this fire. He says communication during the battle was very well-run with all the challenges. "I honestly cannot tell you how great of a job those drivers did with the wind and the smoke and the darkness," Schell said. "It was hard to see, and they guided us to make sure that we weren't hitting washouts or rocks or anything like that, so the people riding on the back putting out the fire could be safe." During and after the fires, people around the community were affected in different ways. "But besides the loss of life of the two people that we got, a couple of people have lost their home with everything in it. Our ranchers and farmers in the area, many of them have lost cattle. If their cattle are fine, they lost the grazing land for their cattle or hay bales to feed their cattle. So they are probably the hardest ones hit with the minimal structure loss we have from this big of a fire," said Weyrauch. Between 18 to 22 volunteer and state emergency services helped out in battling this fire. Fire hot spots are still burning. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Today's Top Stories SIGN UP NOW