Ireton, Iowa — One area fire department had no fewer than three fire calls in one day on Monday, October 10th, 2022.
According to Ireton Fire Chief Richard Steckelberg, the first call went out about 1:15 p.m. for a field fire at 2378 480th Street. He tells us that the fire involved less than an acre of harvested cornstalks, and they put it out with water. No injuries were reported. Steckelberg says the cause appeared to be a carelessly discarded cigarette. He says they were there for 45 minutes.
The next call was only a little later, at about 3:10 p.m., and was for a baler on fire at 460th Street and Fir Avenue, about three miles east of Ireton. He says the baler fire was actually the cause of the third and final fire as well.
As for the baler, he says it was totaled in the fire, and the cause is undetermined. He says they were on that scene for about an hour.
The other call was one mile closer to Ireton at about 4:15 p.m. He says some cornstalks burned, but they were only on that scene for 30 minutes or so.
The next night, up in Lyon County, the George Fire Department was called to a combine fire at about 9:05 p.m. George Fire Chief Bill Sprock says it was at 3610 180th Street, about a mile east of Edna or three miles north and four east of George. Sprock tells us the head was smoldering when they got there but luckily the combine operator had a water extinguisher and had knocked down most of the fire. He says they unhooked the smoldering head and doused both it and the throat of the combine with water. Sprock says it was mostly corn and husks that were burning. They did send two firefighters into the field to check for sparks or hot spots. Damage done to the combine was minimal says Sprock. He says they were there for about 45 minutes.
Sprock says he and other fire chiefs remind farmers to have a disk hooked up and ready to disk firebreaks if a fire should break out. Sprock says fire extinguishers are also needed and can be a big help as well.
