Sheldon, Iowa — A Sheldon firefighter was taken to the hospital and an estimated $30,000 in damage was caused in a fire early on Sunday in Sheldon.
According to Sheldon Fire Chief Brad Hindt, in the midnight hour, the Sheldon Fire Company was called to the report of a tree pile fire at 1155 Western Avenue, which, according to O’Brien County GIS, is property owned by ID Excavating.
The chief says the fire department saw a large tree pile on fire as they approached the scene. He says firefighters went on a defensive attack to control the fire and flying embers. Firefighters laid out about 1,000 feet of 5 inch supply line from the closest fire hydrant and used multiple ground monitors to control the fire and knock out flying embers. The property owner went to work with two excavators, starting to pull apart the larger tree pile and at that point fire fighters switched from the ground monitors to hand lines to gain better access to the pockets of fire.
Hindt says one firefighter was taken to Sanford Sheldon by SCAT, where he was checked out and released.
He says the cause of the fire is undetermined but suspicious in nature.
Chief Hindt says the fire caused about $30,000 in damage, as the trees were to be ground up.
He says the firefighters who responded were on the scene for about six hours — until 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning. He says the Sheldon Community Ambulance Team, O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheldon Police Department assisted them.
He advises that the fire could burn or smolder for several days.
