Hawarden, Iowa– A rock crusher machine was damaged in a fire on Sunday, December 3, 2017 near Hawarden.
According to Hawarden Fire Chief Payne Allen, about 7:00 p.m., the Hawarden Fire Department was called to the report of a belt on fire at the LG Everist Rock Plant, about a mile north of Hawarden on Highway 10.
The chief says the fire department saw small flames from inside the crusher as they approached the scene. He says the belt had burned off and some hydraulic lines were on fire. The chief says they first attempted to fight the fire with extinguishers, but there was too much heat in the metal and rock, so they switched to water lines to fight the fire. They were able to spray water in through an access port on the side of the machine.
Allen says no injuries were reported. He says the cause of the fire appeared to be due to the fact that the machine had been left running and the belt got caught.
Chief Allen reports that there was moderate damage to the machine, but that the damage was limited to the machine only.
He says they used about 750 gallons of water to fight the fire, and crews were on scene for about 40 minutes.
