Sheldon, Iowa — Approximately one acre of beans were lost in a field fire west of Sheldon Saturday afternoon.
Assistant Sheldon Fire Chief Brad Hindt says the call went out about 2:45 Saturday afternoon for a field fire just west of the intersection of 320th Street (Highway 18) and Marsh Avenue. 320th Street and Marsh Avenue is the intersection adjacent to the northwest corner of the campus of Northwest Iowa Community College.
Hindt says when fire crews arrived they discovered a bean field ablaze. He says the fire started when the farmer was using an electric weed zapper to kill weeds in the field. Hindt says that zapper caught the old field cover on fire, and burned about an acre of beans before firefighters got it extinguished.
He says firefighters were on the scene for about an hour.
