Rock Valley, Iowa — A dairy building was saved from fire on Saturday, June 24, 2017 near Rock Valley.
According to Rock Valley Fire Chief Brent Eshuis, about 4:05 PM, the Rock Valley Fire Department was called to the report of a hay fire at Ysselstein Dairy, about seven miles west and a mile north of Rock Valley.
The chief says the fire department saw light smoke from a loose hay pile next to one of the buildings as they approached the scene. Eshuis says workers at the dairy had scooped the hay away from the building before firefighters got there. He says firefighters then broke up the hay and doused it with water to fight the fire.
Eshuis says no injuries were reported.
The fire department was assisted by the Inwood Fire Department, who brought water and more firefighters, according to the chief.
He says the cause of the fire is undetermined but he suspected it might have been a case of spontaneous combustion.
Chief Eshuis reports that damage was limited to the hay pile and some charred metal on the outside of the building.
He says they used seven to eight thousand gallons of water to fight the fire, and crews were on scene for about an hour and a half.
