Fire Chief Cox warns of drought, harvest conditions
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Aurora volunteer firefighters continue to hose down the area of a ditch fire after putting the flames out near the intersection of 11 and M Roads on Thursday. The fire was caused by a sparking transformer, according to Aurora Fire Chief Tom Cox.
Firefighters with the Aurora Fire Department had two calls on Thursday, one to a ditch fire on 11 and M Roads at around 2:30 p.m., and a field fire south of the I-80 Hampton exit at around 5 p.m.
The second fire, caused by mechanical failures that sparked in the dried foliage, involved a mutual aid call with the Marquette Fire Department, according to Aurora Fire Chief Tom Cox. Both fires were put out in under an hour.
The fires did not cause any serious damage, according to Cox. The ditch fire was caused by a power pole transformer sparking. The field fire was started by a combine harvester malfunction.
“What (responding firefighters) said here is that the owner of the combine had some buildup of chaff on the head, and evidently, maybe, a bearing got hot or something got cut from the chaff on fire (and) the owner was able to scoop it off,” Cox reported. “It started a small area on fire, but it did not...damage the standing beans or the combine.”
As harvest seasons continues in drought conditions, Cox stated that farmers should be prepared to put out fires before they get out of control.
“They’re picking corn and soybeans and it’s very dry out there,” he said. “So what you have in this case, you had a buildup of chaff on it. If you get a bearing or something that goes out, gets hot, it can catch that chaff on fire real easily and spread a fire. So luckily the farmer was on top of it.”
Cox recommended keeping equipment well maintained and keeping a fire extinguish on hand at all times during the season to prevent fires needing a call to the fire department.
“Fire extinguishers are handy to assist us putting the fire out before it gets big enough to where we need to get out there,” he elaborated. “There’s really nothing (else) you’re going to do. It’s the time of year.”
The Aurora fire chief stated that with the weather, drought, and normally dry winters in Nebraska that the only way to lessen fires is to keep vigilant.
“It’s always dry this time of year,” Cox stated again. “This year, it just seems like it’s a little bit more dry with the drought, but there’s really not a whole lot to do other than be careful. Keep an eye out.”
