{"id":71700,"date":"2026-11-04T06:27:27","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=71700"},"modified":"2026-11-04T06:27:27","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T12:27:27","slug":"grand-forks-simplot-fire-flames-erupt-from-fryer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/grand-forks-simplot-fire-flames-erupt-from-fryer\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Forks Simplot Fire: Flames Erupt From Fryer"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA<\/strong> (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>) \u2014 Firefighters rushed to the J.R. Simplot facility early Wednesday after an industrial fryer caught fire.<\/p>\n

Emergency crews responded to the commercial building at 3630 Gateway Drive around 12:29 a.m. on November 4, 2026.<\/p>\n

Smoke and flames were visible from the roof when firefighters arrived.<\/p>\n

Crews quickly contained the blaze, preventing it from spreading beyond the industrial equipment.<\/p>\n

No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n

Fire Alarm Triggers Emergency Response<\/h2>\n

The Grand Forks Fire Department was initially dispatched following a water flow alarm at the facility.<\/p>\n

While firefighters were traveling to the scene, dispatchers upgraded the emergency to a working structure fire.<\/p>\n

The upgraded call indicated crews were responding to an active fire rather than an alarm alone.<\/p>\n

When firefighters arrived, they encountered smoke and flames coming from the commercial building’s roof area.<\/p>\n

Crews entered the building to locate the source of the fire.<\/p>\n

\"Firefighters<\/a>
Firefighters rushed to the J.R. Simplot facility early Wednesday after an industrial fryer caught fire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Industrial Fryer Catches Fire Inside Facility<\/h2>\n

Firefighters discovered heavy smoke and active flames coming from a large industrial fryer.<\/p>\n

The equipment was located inside the J.R. Simplot facility.<\/p>\n

Firefighters worked alongside facility employees to bring the fire under control.<\/p>\n

The joint response helped crews contain and extinguish the flames before they spread to surrounding equipment.<\/p>\n

Authorities confirmed that fire damage was limited to the industrial fryer.<\/p>\n

No additional structural damage was reported.<\/p>\n

20 Firefighters Respond to Simplot Plant<\/h2>\n

The Grand Forks Fire Department sent 20 firefighters and several emergency vehicles to the incident.<\/p>\n

The response included five fire engines, one ladder truck, and one command vehicle.<\/p>\n

Firefighters received assistance from the Grand Forks Police Department and Altru Health System.<\/p>\n

Employees and representatives from J.R. Simplot also assisted emergency responders at the scene.<\/p>\n

No injuries were reported among plant workers or emergency personnel.<\/p>\n

Investigators Determine Fire Was Accidental<\/h2>\n

Following the emergency response, investigators determined the industrial fryer fire was accidental.<\/p>\n

Officials have not released additional details explaining exactly how the fire started inside the machinery.<\/p>\n

Authorities also have not provided an estimated dollar amount for the equipment damage.<\/p>\n

The incident highlights the importance of fire detection systems inside large industrial buildings.<\/p>\n

Early warnings can help emergency responders locate fires before they spread through a facility.<\/p>\n

Fire Contained Without Reported Injuries<\/h2>\n

Despite visible smoke and flames, firefighters successfully contained the fire to the affected equipment.<\/p>\n

Officials reported no injuries and no fire damage beyond the fryer.<\/p>\n

Information about any temporary changes to operations at the plant was not included in the initial report.<\/p>\n

For more information, read Valley News Live’s report on the fire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Additional fire prevention information is available from the Grand Forks Fire Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An industrial fryer caught fire at the J.R. Simplot facility in Grand Forks early Wednesday. Crews contained the accidental blaze, and nobody was injured.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":71703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[25777],"tags":[896,1480],"trf_mt_town":[29470],"trf_mt_county":[29541],"trf_mt_topic":[],"trf_mt_series":[],"class_list":["post-71700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tri-state-news","tag-fire","tag-grand-forks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71700"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71705,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71700\/revisions\/71705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71700"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_town","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_town?post=71700"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_county","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_county?post=71700"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_topic?post=71700"},{"taxonomy":"trf_mt_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/trf_mt_series?post=71700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}