Sibley, Iowa — Two fire departments were called out to a fire call on Thursday, November 1, 2018, near Sibley.
According to Sibley Fire Chief Ken Huls, about 11:15 a.m., the Sibley Fire Department was called to the report of a combine fire near 190th Street and Silver Avenue, which is about five miles east and two south of Jackrabbit Junction.
The chief says the fire department saw smoke as they approached the scene. He says they used water to fight the fire.
Huls says they believe that a hot bearing got smokey, and the farmer called 911 right away.
Huls says no injuries were reported.
The Ocheyedan Fire Department was also called and helped at the scene.
Huls says after they sprayed water on the hot part, they checked it over, and the farmer went right back to work. Chief Huls reports that damage was little to none.
He says they used about 100 gallons of water to fight the fire, and the seven firefighters who responded were on scene for about 30 minutes.
According to Huls, it did take them a while to find the combine. He says the farmer did the best he could with the information available, but the combine was in the middle of the field, over a hill, and was hard to see. He says it’s lucky the fire wasn’t any worse.
Huls says when you’re giving your location and you are in the middle of a field or some other location without an address, be as specific as you can when giving the dispatcher your location. He suggests using landmarks. Huls also says if your phone or farming equipment is equipped with GPS, you can also give your latitude and longitude — your GPS coordinates — and with the equipment that they have at the dispatch center and in the fire trucks, they will be able to easily find you.
