North Dakota wildfire victim was about to return home to South Africa for the birth of his daughter

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A South African man who died due to a North Dakota wildfire over the weekend was planning to return to his wife within weeks in time for the birth of their first child.

Nicolaas van Eeden, 26, died Saturday due to smoke inhalation after he was driving home to Tioga when the smoke became too much, based on a state trooper's report, his wife, Anke, told The Associated Press. It's unclear exactly what happened, but the trooper found him alive and able to walk. However, he died soon after arriving in Williston by ambulance, she said.

Van Eeden was one of two people who died due to the weekend wildfires, blazes in scattered areas of western North Dakota that injured several other people and led to evacuations of more than 100 others.

“He was just an amazing person,” Anke van Eeden said of her husband. “And he absolutely adored everyone around him and cared for everyone, and I think the only thing keeping him going is the fact that he was so excited to meet his little girl.”

The couple’s daughter is due in November. Anke learned of Nicolaas’s death soon after her baby shower. They were married in February and had been together for three and a half years. They met through mutual friends.

They came to North Dakota together in late April. Nicolaas was doing general farm work on a Tioga-area ranch under an agricultural worker visa program “to just give us a financial boost so we can start our lives,” Anke said.

He was set to come home in three weeks for their baby’s birth. Anke, 31, quit her job earlier this year to go to North Dakota with Nicolaas, who was the family's provider. She returned to George, South Africa, in early August.

The couple's last conversation was a routine phone call letting her know he was driving home, she said.

Messages, prayers and condolences from North Dakota have reached her on the other side of the world, she said — a response that has been “more than I ever thought possible." The Bank of Tioga has an account for donations for the van Eeden family.

Nicolaas was an amazing worker who had a lot of heart for everything he did, said Brittany Wolla, whose family he worked for on their farm and ranch for two summers, doing everything from driving combine harvester to spreading manure to working cows, Wolla said.

“Anything we asked of him, he would do it, and if he didn't know how to do it, he was very willing to learn” — even watching YouTube videos if he couldn't figure out a task by himself, she said.

North Dakota's snow and cold weather were a shock for him — and so was driving on the right side of the road — but Wolla said her family has never had farm hands with an outstanding work ethic as the South Africans they have employed, who became part of their family.

The van Eeden family is holding a ceremony for Nicolaas in the coming days. His ashes won't arrive home until after his daughter is born.

Authorities on Tuesday confirmed the death of a second person, 47-year-old Edgar Coppersmith, of Tioga, in connection with the Williams County fires.

Detective Dan Ward said Coppersmith was taken to Denver due to his injuries. He died there, but Ward said he did not know when or how he was injured.

Coppersmith and van Eeden were injured in separate incidents, Ward said. Six other people were injured as a result of the fires in the county.

The fires were some of six major wildfires from over the weekend in scattered areas of western North Dakota, where dry conditions and wind gusts up to nearly 80 mph (129 kph)spurred the flames. Officials believe downed power lines caused at least some of the fires.

Firefighters on Tuesday had a better handle on two other large wildfires burning in western North Dakota.

As of 3:52 p.m. Tuesday, the 28,434-acre (11,507-hectare) Elkhorn Fire near Grassy Butte was 50% contained, and the 11,746-acre (4,753-hectare) Bear Den Fire near Mandaree was 30% contained, according to the state Department of Emergency Services.

No injuries have been reported in connection with the two fires. Two homes and numerous outbuildings have been lost. Both fires are burning in rugged Badlands terrain in North Dakota’s oilfield.

The North Dakota Forest Service logged 33 reported fires over the weekend, amounting to 49,180 acres (19,902 hectares).

That figure does not include the large Ray-, Tioga- and Alamo-area fires that merged into one. That fire’s burn perimeter is estimated at 88,934 acres (35,990 hectares), but there could be patches within that area that didn’t burn, a department spokesperson said. That fire is 99% contained. Flareups are still an issue.

More than 100 people evacuated from their homes in the Arnegard and Keene areas Saturday due to fires.

Livestock losses from the fires were not immediately clear. Hundreds of power poles were damaged. Segments of two highways temporarily closed.

Officials expect the fire danger conditions to continue this fall.

In this photo provided by the U.S. Army National Guard, North Dakota National Guard soldiers and airmen work with the Department of Emergency Services to build a handline and conduct a controlled burn to prevent the further spread of a wildfire in Mandaree, N.D., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (Staff Sgt. Samuel J. Kroll/U.S. Army National Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by the U.S. Army National Guard, North Dakota National Guard soldiers and airmen work with the Department of Emergency Services to build a handline and conduct a controlled burn to prevent the further spread of a wildfire in Mandaree, N.D., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (Staff Sgt. Samuel J. Kroll/U.S. Army National Guard via AP)

In this photo provided by the U.S. Army National Guard, North Dakota National Guard soldiers and airmen work with the Department of Emergency Services to build a handline and conduct a controlled burn to prevent the further spread of a wildfire in Mandaree, N.D., Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (Staff Sgt. Samuel J. Kroll/U.S. Army National Guard via AP)

This undated photo provided by Anke van Eeden shows Nicolaas and Anke van Eeden in a tractor on a ranch near Tioga, N.D. Nicolaas van Eeden, 26, died Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in connection with a large wildfire burning near Ray, N.D. (Anke van Eeden via AP)

This 2024 image provided by Anke van Eeden shows Nicolaas and Anke van Eeden during their first week in America. (Anke van Eeden via AP)

Wall Street extended its gains to a ninth straight day Friday, marking the stock market’s longest winning streak since 2004 and reclaiming the ground it lost since President Donald Trump escalated his trade war in early April.

The rally was spurred by a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market and resurgent hope for a ratcheting down in the U.S. trade showdown with China.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.4%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.5%.

The gains were broad. Roughly 90% of stocks and every sector in the S&P 500 advanced. Technology stocks were among the companies doing the heaviest lifting. Microsoft rose 2.3% and Nvidia rose 2.5%. Apple, however, fell 3.7% after the iPhone maker estimated that tariffs will cost it $900 million.

Banks and other financial companies also made solid gains. JPMorgan Chase rose 2.3% and Visa closed 1.5% higher.

Employers added 177,000 jobs in April. That marks a slowdown in hiring from March, but it was solidly better than economists anticipated. However, the latest job figures don’t yet reflect the effects on the economy of President Donald Trump’s across-the-board tariffs against America’s trading partners. Many of the more severe tariffs that were supposed to go into effect in April were delayed by three months, with the notable exception of tariffs against China.

“We’ve already seen how financial markets will react if the administration moves forward with their initial tariff plan, so unless they take a different tack in July when the 90-day pause expires, we will see market action similar to the first week of April,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management.

The S&P 500 slumped 9.1% during the first week of April as Trump announced a major escalation of his trade war with more tariffs. The market has now clawed back its losses since then, helped by a string of resilient earnings reports from U.S. companies, hopes for de-escalation of trade tensions with China and expectations that the Federal Reserve will still be able to cut rates a few times this year.

The benchmark index is still down 3.3% so far this year, and 7.4% below the record it reached in February.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 82.53 points to 5,686.67. The Dow gained 564.47 points to 41,317.43, and the Nasdaq added 266.99 points to 17,977.73.

The job market is being closely watched for signs of stress amid trade war tensions. Strong employment has helped fuel solid consumer spending and economic growth over the last few years. Economists are now worried about the impact that taxes on imports will have on consumers and businesses, especially about how higher costs will hurt hiring and spending.

The economy is already showing signs of strain. The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.3% annual pace during the first quarter of the year. It was slowed by a surge in imports as businesses tried to get ahead of Trump’s tariffs.

The current round of tariffs and the on-again-off-again nature of Trump’s policy has overshadowed planning for businesses and households. Companies have been cutting and withdrawing financial forecasts because of the uncertainty over how much tariffs will cost them and how much they will squeeze consumers and sap spending.

Hopes remain that Trump will roll back some of his tariffs after negotiating trade deals with other countries. China has been a key target, with tariffs of 145%. Its Commerce Ministry said Beijing is evaluating overtures from the U.S. regarding the tariffs.

Investors had a relatively quiet day of earnings reports following a busy week. Exxon Mobil rose 0.4%, recovering from an early slide, after reporting its lowest first-quarter profit in years. Rival Chevron rose 1.6% after it also reported its smallest first-quarter profit in years.

Falling crude oil prices have weighed on the sector. Crude oil prices in the U.S. are down about 17% for the year. They fell below $60 per barrel this week, which is a level at which many producers can no longer turn a profit.

Block slumped 20.4% after reporting a sharp drop in first-quarter profit that fell short of analysts' forecasts. The financial technology company behind Cash App cited a pullback in consumer spending on travel and other discretionary items as a key reason for the results.

Treasury yields rose in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.31% from 4.22% late Thursday.

Trader Edward Curran works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Rob Taylor works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Patrick King works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader James Matthews, left, and specialist James Denaro work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Glenn Carell, left, and trader Mathias Roberts, center, work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Alex Weitzman works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Philip Finale, left, and trader Robert Charmak work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Niall Pawa works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Michael Pistillo, left, and trader Fred Demarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialists Meric Greenbaum, left, and Philip Finale confer on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist James Denaro works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Specialist Gregg Maloney works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)