Northwest Iowa — The dry conditions and strong winds continue to be an issue with which area fire departments need to contend. Three area fire departments put out fires in recent days.
On Sunday evening, about 5:20 p.m., the Doon Fire Department was paged to 3251 240th Street, which is about a mile and a half north of Doon. The call was for a controlled burn that got into a field. Fire Chief Blake Van Bemmel says some folks had started a controlled burn of a waterway, but it got away from them and got into a cornfield. He says they used water to fight the fire and two guys with disks dug firebreaks. Nothing but stubble was damaged, says Van Bemmel, and firefighters were there for 45 minutes.
A little over 12 hours later, Ellsworth, Minnesota firefighters were paged to 1353 Jefferson Avenue in Lyon County Iowa for what was called a “grove fire.” That’s about four and a half miles south of Ellsworth, or seven miles west of Little Rock and a mile and a half north. Ellsworth Fire officials tell us the page went out about 5:45 a.m. They say someone had been burning some branches. The fire went out, but the wind must have kicked it up again and it had climbed a tree, which they found on fire when they arrived. They extinguished the fire and were en route back to Ellsworth in about 15 minutes.
Then on Monday afternoon, the Sibley Fire Department was called to 5006 120th Street for a barn on fire at about 2:30 p.m. That’s two miles west and five north of Sibley. Fire Chief Kenny Huls says the occupant had been burning debris when the wind picked up some embers, which landed on the roof of the barn and caught the wood shingles on fire. He says the occupant saw the smoke and tried to put it out, but called 911. Before they got there, Huls says the occupant had knocked the fire down. He says the firefighters made sure it was out. He says it was fortunate that the occupant had nearby access to water. He says only about two square feet of shingles burned, and firefighters were only there for a short time.
