Sheldon, Iowa — The Sheldon Fire Company was paged out on Friday, April 17, 2026, for a call near Sheldon.
According to Sheldon Fire Chief Brad Hindt, at about 7:00 p.m., firefighters were called to the report of bales on fire at 2979 Olive Avenue, three miles east of McDonald’s and two and a half north.
When they got there, the chief says the fire department saw the bales on fire. He says the farmer broke up the bales with a payloader, and a neighbor disked them under while firefighters put out the flames.
No injuries were reported.
The Ashton firefighters were called, but they were not needed.
Hindt says the cause of the fire appeared to be spontaneous combustion in a nearby manure pile that ignited the bales.
Chief Hindt reports that the damage was limited to the bales.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for a little over an hour.
A few hours later, at 2:20 a.m. Saturday morning, Sheldon firefighters were again called out, this time for a ditch fire south of town on McKinley Avenue. He says they found the ditch burning when they got there — about 500 linear feet-worth.
Hindt says they found that a critter had got up into the transformer area on the pole and was electrocuted. His fiery body fell into the grass and started the fire.
Hindt says the pole was OK. One customer was without power for a while, but he says they were back in service in about a half an hour.
KIWA Staff Photo
