Northwest Iowa — Fire departments in our part of northwest Iowa were kept busy on Monday, due to ideal conditions for fire.
Doon Fire Chief Blake Van Bemmel tells us his department was sent out just before 4:00 p.m. on Monday to a combine fire. He says they arrived to find the combine engulfed in flames. They extinguished the fire using water and foam. He says they do not know exactly what started the fire, but it started in the engine bay of the combine. He says the gusty winds were an issue. No one was injured, but the combine was totaled, says Van Bemmel. He says Doon firefighters were out for about an hour and a half.
About a half an hour earlier, Inwood firefighters were called to a field fire. Inwood Fire Chief Troy Van Beek says they arrived to find it was actually two fires in bean stubble, about a quarter mile apart or so. He says firefighters fought the fire on the leading edges with water, but they received lots of help from about ten farmers who brought their tractors and disks as soon as they saw the smoke. Van Beek says the firefighters really appreciated the help. He says the cause is undetermined, but they think it must have been something hot under the combine to have started two separate fires, but they were unable to find anything hot on the combine. Van Beek says about 50 acres of stalks and stubble burned, along with maybe five acres of standing corn. Firefighters from Lester, Larchwood, and Alvord were also called to help. He says they were there for about an hour and a half.
About the same time as the Doon fire, the Hull Fire Department was also paged to a field fire. Hull Fire Chief Greg Van Roekel tells us they got there to find a bunch of standing soybeans on fire. The Hull firefighters along with firefighters from Rock Valley and Boyden fought the blaze, with help from about a dozen farmers with tractors and disks to disk firebreaks. The chief says the cause is undetermined as there were no hot bearings on the combine or anything like that. He tells us about 20 acres of beans were destroyed, and they were also on the scene for about an hour and a half.
George firefighters were also called out. Fire Chief Bill Sprock tells us their fire was at 3805 250th Street. He says they found two spots burning in a bean field, which they found were caused by an electrical issue in the combine. He says about one to two thousand dollars in damage was caused. But he says it could have been a lot worse, and they were fortunate that it wasn’t. George firefighters were on hand for about an hour.
