George, Iowa — Twenty acres of standing corn was destroyed in a fire on Monday, October 12, 2015 near George.
According to George Fire Chief Bill Sprock, about 5:30 PM, the George Fire Department was called to the report of field fire on property owned by Alan Eben near 4123 160th Street, five miles north and a mile east of George.
The chief says the fire department saw about a quarter of the field on fire as they approached the scene. He says they used water to fight the fire and two farmers used their tractors and disks to assist. The fire department was assisted by firefighters from Little Rock and Ellsworth.
Sprock says that there were no injuries reported.
He says their biggest challenge was the wind, and trying to keep the fire from another field to the south.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to be that something got hot on the combine that started the field on fire behind it.
Chief Sprock reports that 20 acres of standing corn burned. At the county average of 180 bushels to the acre and today’s cash corn price of $3.56 per bushel, the damage was over $12,000.
He says they used 3500 gallons of water to fight the fire, and crews were on scene for about an hour and fifteen minutes.
