Sioux Center, Iowa — Seven fire departments were called out on Thursday, October 17, 2024, for a fire near Sioux Center.
According to Sioux Center Fire Chief David Van Holland, at about 3:00 p.m., the Sioux Center Fire Department was called to the report of a field fire in standing corn near 390th Street and Fir Avenue, four miles west of the Sioux Center Hardee’s corner.
The chief says the fire department saw lots of smoke and fire in standing corn as they approached the scene. He says they used water and had the help of at least 13 farmers with disks to fight the fire, with more who were en route when the fire was put out.
Van Holland says no injuries were reported.
The fire department was assisted by the Ireton, Hull, Orange City, Maurice, Hawarden, and Hudson fire departments.
He says the cause of the fire may have possibly been a lit cigarette.
Chief Van Holland reports that five to ten acres of standing corn and 20 to 30 acres total burned in the blaze.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for about two hours.
That was actually one of four calls they had that day. One of the other calls was a field fire about noon, one mile closer to Sioux Center on the same road. He says that one may also have been caused by a lit cigarette. The damage at that fire scene was more minimal, says Van Holland.
He says firefighters from Ireton, Rock Valley, and Hull helped them out at that fire, and only stubble was damaged.
Van Holland advises people to be very cautious with smoking materials during this very dry time.
Then, on Saturday, Van Holland says they responded to a call of a tractor on fire. He says the four-wheel-drive tractor suddenly burst into flames as the operator was turning on the end rows. The cause is undetermined, but the big tractor was totaled in the blaze.
