Authorities: Small Ditch Fires Along Primghar Area Ditch Don’t Seem Suspicious

Primghar, Iowa — While fire and law enforcement officials still aren’t sure what caused about four small fires on Friday, they don’t think the cause is suspicious at this time.

According to Primghar Fire Chief Gary Lansink, the Primghar Fire Department was paged to the 3700 block of Taft Avenue about 1:40 p.m. on Friday, August 21st for the report of around 4 fires in the east ditch.

Lansink says firefighters were able to make quick work of the fires, some with water from the responding fire unit, and some with fire extinguishers.

He tells us that while it’s unusual that they don’t know what caused the fires, neither he nor the responding O’Brien County Sheriff’s deputy believe the cause is suspicious, according to O’Brien County Sheriff Allen Schuknecht. They speculate that something dragging on the blacktop or a backfiring vehicle could have been sparking into the ditch, but that’s just a guess.

Lansink says the firefighters were on the scene putting out the fires and investigating the situation for about a half an hour.

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