A loader dumps grain from a coop fire in Sioux Center.
A fire inside a massive grain storage facility in northwest Iowa is believed to have been sparked through spontaneous combustion. It started around 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Farmer’s Coop Society of Sioux Center.
The building is larger than the size of a football field and was loaded with 2.7 million bushels of corn. Sioux Center Fire Chief Dave Van Holland says it could take five days to haul all of the grain out of the facility. “We’ve got an extreme amount of heat in the center of the building, but we’re able work in the building with payloaders and keep moving the grain at a rapid speed out of the building,” Van Holland said.
It’s unclear how much of the corn will be salvageable. “Our main goal is just to maintain safety for the payloader operators,” Van Holland said. Fire crews from Sioux Center, Orange City, Hull, Rock Valley, Le Mars, and Ireton have been on the scene.
Story and pictures by Doug Broek, KIHK, Sioux Center
Firefighters had to clear out millions of bushels of grain after the fire at the Sioux Center Coop.