Fairview SD, Iowa — Three fire departments were called out on Thursday, March 24, 2022, for a fire on the Iowa side, near Fairview, South Dakota.
According to Fairview Fire Chief Bernie Lang, about 5:00 p.m., the Fairview Fire Department was called to the report of a grass fire at 1191 290th Street, which is as far west as you can go in Sioux County — five miles south and six west of Inwood — or from Fairview — across the Big Sioux River north into Iowa, and three miles west.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be a burning rubbish pile of which control was lost and the fire got into some dry grass and grew quickly.
The chief says the fire department used water and fire flappers to fight the fire. Flappers are a flat implement for suffocating flames. Later, he says the farmer disked around a part of the fire, which gave them the upper hand. Lang tells us that somewhat unexpectedly, while the grass was dry, the ground was muddy, and two of the grass rigs got stuck. He says he thinks the mud was from frost coming out of the ground.
Lang says no injuries were reported
The fire department was assisted by the Inwood, Iowa and Canton, South Dakota fire departments.
Chief Lang reports that three to four acres of grassland burned.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for about an hour and a half.
