Wind causes fire concern

The high winds of late have played a part in at least two of several grass and stubble fires in the area over the last week. 
Aurora Fire Chief Tom Cox says his department answered calls to three fires in the area within a 24-hour period beginning last Monday afternoon, Feb. 26. Cox said fire crews were called to L Road between 8th and 9th roads at 12:43 p.m. to extinguish a grass fire apparently started by a power line that had come loose from a pole in the high winds causing a shower of sparks. 
Cox said the fire in the road ditch was “very small” and firefighters “were able to get it put out in just a few minutes.”
Hours later at 12:35 a.m. firefighters were called to put out a fire at the ethanol plant at 2103 Harvest Drive west of Aurora. Cox said a payloader used to load wet and dry distiller’s grain at the plant was fully engulfed in flame when firefighters arrived on scene. 
Cox said the fire was reported to dispatch by a passing motorist and Aurora police officers were the first to arrive on scene. He said the cause of the fire is unknown, but the payloader was a total loss. A few hours later at 6:13 a.m. Aurora fire crews were called to mile marker 327 on I-80 for a semi-trailer fire. Cox said he suspects the brakes on the truck got hot setting fire to the trailer. He said the driver was able to unhitch the tractor in order to save it, but the trailer was a complete loss. 
Mondays seem to be bad days for firefighters lately. On Monday this week the Phillips Volunteer Fire Department was called to a stubble and grass fire along Highway 34 about a half mile east of the Syngenta plant near the Phillips turnoff. Phillips Fire Chief Jason Fry said the fire apparently started in the middle of a field north of the highway and then the flames were driven by strong northerly winds through a line of trees and into the road ditch. 
Fry said he had no idea as to the cause of the fire, but notes the dry and windy conditions make for a volatile situation.