Rock Rapids, Iowa — The Rock Rapids Fire Department responded to two rural fire calls within two hours of each other on Tuesday, September 28th, 2021.
According to Rock Rapids Fire Chief Ed Reck, the first call was in the field to the south of the former Jansma Feed Mill, about a mile and a half west of the intersection of South 12th Avenue and Highway 75 near the south edge of Rock Rapids. Reck tells us the call indicated a piece of farm equipment was on fire in the field just after 2:00 p.m., but the fire was already out when they arrived. He says a malfunction caused a shaft to break and the equipment got hot and burst into flame. Fortunately, says Reck, the operator was able to put out the fire with an extinguisher. Firefighters verified it was out and went back to the station. The damage was limited, and besides having to fix what went wrong, he says it looked operational.
But the trucks didn’t stay in the station long. Just before 4:00 p.m., another page went out. This time the call said it was a grain cart on fire three miles east of Rock Rapids and two south. But Reck says when they got there, they discovered that it was the cab of a grain truck that was on fire, not a grain cart. He says their new fire truck has a monitor on it — basically a water cannon mounted on the top of the truck. Reck says they sprayed the fire with water and foam from the monitor, and they were happy with the way that worked. He says they only needed to spray a little water from the hose reel, and they had it out. He says an electrical or mechanical malfunction under the hood was to blame. Reck says the cab of the truck appeared to be totaled, but the back was fine.
He tells us that between the two fires, firefighters were kept busy for about 45 minutes.
