Investigators suspect embers from ground up hay sparked a large fire in rural Sioux County that drew a response from two dozen fire departments, including some from South Dakota. The fire started Sunday afternoon in large hay bales on a farm near Rock Valley.
When the Rock Valley fire department arrived, they requested mutual aid immediately from other fire departments for water and manpower due to the strong winds and the number of hay bales involved. Seventeen Iowa fire departments and seven South Dakota fire departments responded. Rock Valley Fire Chief Brent Eshuis said he’s thankful for those who responded to requests for heavy equipment to help fight the fire. Eshuis estimates 200,000 gallons of water were used to knock down the fire in a thousand bales of hay, keeping the flames from reaching cattle nearby.
People in the area arrived with excavators and tractors with discs to cut fire breaks. The fire chief says employees of the City of Rock Valley and the Rock Valley Rural Water District checked water levels as fire crews fought the fire. A deputy Sioux County sheriff says a machine had been grinding hay in the area and investigators suspect some of the hay left on the ground started shouldering and embers reached the bales of hay nearby.
(Photo of fire included in Rock Valley Fire Department news release.)