Fire destroys 105-year-old post office on Standing Rock Reservation

A fire destroyed the post office in Selfridge, North Dakota

ByThe Associated Press
September 17, 2024, 5:24 PM

SELFRIDGE, N.D. -- A fire destroyed the 105-year-old post office in Selfridge, North Dakota, early Monday.

State and federal authorities are investigating the cause of the fire, KFYR-TV reported. Five trucks, a tanker and multiple volunteers responded to the fire.

No one was injured and the fire did not spread to anything else, said Selfridge Rural Fire District Secretary Debbie Vollmuth. A video she filmed shows flames leaping out of the building's roof and windows.

The Associated Press left a phone message with the Sioux County sheriff, and emailed a spokesperson for the state attorney general as well as a spokesperson for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Selfridge is a town of about 125 people on the Standing Rock Reservation, about 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) from Bismarck.

The reservation, home to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border. The tribe drew international attention in 2016 and 2017 for opposing the Dakota Access oil pipeline crossing the Missouri River upstream of the reservation. Monthslong protests unfolded in the area.