At least 32,000 acres of North Dakota land have been scorched by fire since March, the Burleigh County emergency manager says.

Mary Senger labeled the estimate from the Forest Service as "conservative." More than 350 fires have been reported so far in 2008, and the average for most complete years is 500 fires, she said.

Burleigh and Morton counties have had burn bans in place since early April, but some people still have been burning illegally.

Bismarck and Mandan police have reported in the last few days responding to backyard fire pits. People are prohibited from burning in such pits while the burn ban is in effect. Cooking on charcoal or propane grills is allowed, though.

"We're not having a problem with those,"Senger said of the grills.

The Burleigh County Sheriff's Department has responded to many reports of controlled burns since the ban went into effect, including two on Monday. A landowner near Highway 36 told deputies he thought the ban was lifted after the area's last rainfall, so he was burning straw in a field. Another person north of Bismarck told deputies he didn't know about the burn ban and was burning weeds, sticks and other lawn trash.

Both reports will be sent to the Burleigh County State's Attorney's office for possible burn ban violation charges. Several other people have been charged with the offense in relation to controlled burns in the county. A first offense of the ban is an infraction, punishable by a fine of up to $500. A second or subsequent offense is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and fines of up to $1,000.

People are asked to call the sheriff's department or emergency manager's office before performing a controlled burn, Senger said. That way, they would be informed of any bans that might be in place and would not burn, she said.

Tammy Lapp-Harris, Morton County emergency manager, said there have been few violations of the burn ban reported in Morton County.

"Everybody's been listening," she said.

Mandan Police Sgt. Jay Gruebele said three boys, ages 10, 10 and 11, were cited with disorderly conduct after they were seen running from a small grass fire near El Rancho mobile home court at 7:09 p.m. Monday. The boys were located by officers, interviewed and cited, he said. The fire had been extinguished before firefighters arrived and did not cause any significant damage, he said.

More than half of North Dakota counties have had burn bans in place at some point or another during the spring. Some have rescinded, then reinstated, the bans depending on how much moisture the county has received, Senger said. Burleigh and Morton have remained dry enough to leave the bans in place, the emergency managers said.

"We just have this little forcefield around us," Senger said.

She said her office confers with rural fire chiefs and fire management specialists on a regular basis and checks the fire index to determine whether to lift the ban.

"We review it every two or three days,"she said.

Lapp-Harris said Morton County would have to receive quite a bit of moisture before the ban would be lifted. The ban is reviewed anytime conditions change, but nothing has changed enough to get rid of the ban yet, she said.

The National Weather Service issued nine "red-flag warnings" for fire danger in the Bismarck area in April, and already two have been issued in May, Senger said.

The state's fires so far this year have had a variety of causes, from lightning to wind blowing power lines into trees to friction from heavy equipment. Senger advises people involved in outdoor activities to take precautions, such as carrying a cell phone and carrying fire extinguishers or other fire extinguishing tools when involved in activities where fires could start.

"We're not restricting the outdoor activities," she said. "We're just asking them to take some precautions."

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael.) @bismarcktribune.com