Sibley, Iowa– A newer combine and 40 to 50 acres of soybeans were destroyed in a fire on Sunday, September 25, 2022, near Sibley.
According to Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls, at about 1:30 p.m., the Sibley Fire Department was called to the report of a combine fire near Redwing Avenue and 130th Street, two and a half miles east of Sibley and four north.
The chief says the fire department saw a combine and a bean field on fire as they approached the scene. He says they responded as mutual aid, as it was actually Bigelow’s call. He says the Sibley firefighters responded with three trucks and found Bigleow on scene. He tells us the soybeans around the combine had started on fire, and with the high winds 40 to 50 acres of beans were burning when they arrived.
Huls tells us two local farmers with disks and rippers got ahead of it and “saved the day.” He says Sibley firefighters then got into those firebreaks and put out hot spots. He says the combine was pretty much extngushed by that time.
Huls says no injuries were reported.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be something hot in the combine, but he suspects it may have been something mechanical in nature.
Chief Huls reports that the newer combine was totaled and was probably worth a half a million dollars in damages. If the bean crop had an average yield, it would be worth about $33,000 at today’s prices.
He says the Bigelow firefighters who responded were on the scene for about an hour and Sibley for about a half an hour.
Sibley firefighters were also called out on Friday afternoon to 220th Street and Redwood Avenue, about four miles south and three east of Sibley for a side-by-side UTV on fire. Huls says someone was transporting the side-by-side on a trailer after a belt had failed, when something inside ignited, probably due to the heat produced by the failing belt. He says they used water and foam to put it out.
Huls says the 2019 CanAm was destroyed in the fire as was the 16-foot wooden trailer it was being transported on. He estimates the CanAm was worth about $20,000 and the trailer about $10,000.
Huls tells us the firefighters were on the scene for about a half an hour on Friday.
