Area fire departments fight hay bale fires

The Brookings County Sheriff’s Office and local fire crews respond to two recent hay bale fires.

The first was Friday at about 9:20 am, northwest of Volga. The resident smelled smoke in a hay shed. They wanted the fire department on hand before opening up the stack of round bales. Once the Volga Department arrived, the stack was opened and immediately combusted, causing a large fire in the building. Mutual aid from Bruce, Sinai and Arlington Fire Departments was requested. Later, Brookings, White, Aurora and Elkton Fire Departments were also asked to help.

Crews were able to extinguish the fire with little damage to the shed.

The second hay fire was Monday afternoon at about 12:20 at a farm just southwest of Elkton.

The Elkton Fire Department was dispatched for a stack of large hay bales on fire. Mutual aid from Aurora, Bruce, Sinai, Volga, White and Brookings Fire Departments and Brookings County Emergency Management was requested.

Crews were able to quickly extinguish the fire. Many bales were damaged with an estimated loss of $100,000.

The causes of these fires is not known. The Brookings County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

August 30, 2023