High winds helped fan a grass fire that threatened the town of Crescent in southwest Iowa today. Crescent Assistant Fire Chief Tom Campin says hot embers were blowing over the city. Campin says it was hard to keep the fire under control.It’s believed a controlled burn that got away started the fire. Crescent firefighters were joined by two other volunteer departments in fighting the fire today. Other grass fires were reported near Council Bluffs, Underwood and Omaha as southwest Iowa remains extremely dry.Wind gusts of up to 58 miles an hour are also hurting efforts to put out a fire Algona that destroyed a barn and another building. Officials say blowing smoke from that fire and dust reduced visibility to one and half miles near the Algona airport in Kossuth County.
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