Northwest Iowa — With the windy weather and low humidity we’ve been having, especially Wednesday, some people anticipated busy fire departments again. While there were some fire calls, nothing too major developed.
The Ireton Fire Department had two fire calls, both on Garfield Avenue. The first one was a few minutes before 11:00 a.m., a mile north, four east, and a little south of Ireton, just south of Highway 10. Fire Chief Richard Steckelberg reports that they think the pickup that was on fire had been hot underneath and started the stubble in the field on fire. He says they got the pickup fire out with water and two farmers with disks disked firebreaks to stop the fire. He says the pickup is probably totaled, about an acre of stubble burned, and they were there for about 45 minutes.
That afternoon, they were called to a power line and tree fire, also on Garfield Avenue, about a mile north of the other fire scene. That call came in about 20 minutes to 4 p.m. Steckelberg reports that they think the tree may have landed on the power line, which started the fire and actually started the field on the opposite side on fire as well. He says they put out the fire with water. A farmer with a disk helped too. He says less than an acre burned.
The Sioux Center Fire Department was also called out for a minor fire. A burning pile that was burned over a month ago apparently re-ignited in the strong winds, says Fire Chief David Van Holland. He says firefighters made quick work of it by dousing it with water. No damage was reported.
No injuries were reported in any of the fire calls.
