The North Bend Eagle

 


Farmers arrived with their discs to stop the advancement a fire in a field north of North Bend last Monday [Sept. 30]. The NBVFD used water from tanker trucks to put out the fire. The smoke was thick at times but quickly dissipated.

Fire starts week for local fighters

by Mary Le Arneal
Published 10/9/24

This week is Fire Prevention Week. A time we recognize the firefighters who protect our town and crops. This week really started off with fireworks.

Monday was a sunny day with a slight breeze from the north. It had been quite a while since the area had received any rain, the last decent rain of 4.64 inches on July 2. These abnormally dry conditions could enhance the potential for combine and field fires this fall. The farmers were out picking corn and soybeans. It had to be done.

The unexpected, the thing farmers are warned about, happened to Terry Snover last week, Sept. 30.

“I was in the combine on top of the hill north of the house,” Snover explains. “I dumped and turned back across the field to the east end when I saw smoke on the west end of the field.”

Snover went back and did as much as he could with the equipment he had. Soon neighbors showed up with discs and the firemen showed up.
His nephew Mike Elofson was unloading corn into a bin by the house. A trucker had stopped and told him about the fire. Mike brought the fire extinguishers they had, but none worked.

Fire chief Waylon Fischer put in his report that NBVFD received a call at 3:45 p.m. about a cornfield on fire at Highway 79 and Foothill Road, four and a half miles north of North Bend.

At about 3:48 p.m., North Bend Truck 44, Truck 20, Engine 31 and Truck 65 left for the scene and arrived at 4:05 p.m. Mutual aid was requested from Morse Bluff for its grass rig and tanker. On arrival, the decision was made to request mutual aid from Dodge, Snyder and Scribner Fire for grass rigs and tankers.

Fire crews, about 35 in all, responded. Farmers with discs were able to control and prevent the fire from spreading to the tree line on the south edge of the field. The fire was under control at 5:18 p.m.
Snover said he lost about 10 acres of corn, but the fire stayed out of the trees.

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