Combine, field fire contained
Published 1:28 pm Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Austin firefighters walk the perimeter of a bean field fire just on the edge of Austin Wednesday afternoon. -- Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
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Austin firefighters extinguished a fire in a soybean field along 16th Avenue SW around 2 p.m. Wednesday afternoon after battling the blaze for more than an hour.
An Austin firefighter puts water on flames shooting up out of a bean field on the southwest edge of Austin Wednesday. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The fire started when David Hillier, former county commissioner, was combining his field, according to Sheriff Terese Amazi. The fire began in the combine and spread to the field.
Hillier called 911 and tried to control the flames with a fire extinguisher he had in the combine.
The fire was near a residential area and at one point was spreading toward homes, but nobody was evacuated, Amazi said. According to firefighters, the fire was extinguished two different times before being snuffed out for good.
According to Amazi, there is no damage estimate available for the combine, a 1976 John Deere Turbo 7700.
The potential for crop field fires is high, due to near-record temperatures and low humidity. The Mower County Sheriff’s Office issued a burning ban Tuesday afternoon for all of Mower County.
Red flag fire warnings have been posted for much of southern Minnesota this week, prompting burning restrictions across the area. The National Weather Service posts red flag warnings when weather conditions create a high risk for fires.
