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Wednesday, 15 October 2008 |
By MIKE BURKHOLDER
Managing Editor
ST. MARYS — A fire ring combined with gusting winds to spark a field fire Tuesday afternoon that scorched close to 20 acres of land just north of St. Marys.
Dispatchers with the St. Marys Fire Department received a phone call regarding a field fire started in a recently harvested corn field located along Ohio 66 between Vogel and Shipman roads. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they discovered a significant portion of the field on fire.
“He (property owner) had a burn ring and was burning feed sacks,” Noble Township Fire Prevention Officer Shawn Fannon told The Evening Leader at the scene. “The wind picked up and blew hot embers onto the field.”
Given the recent dry spell, Fannon said the hot embers quickly ignited the field. Fannon said Tuesday’s wind gusts helped to fuel the fire and allowed it to spread quickly.
“The wind picked up and it took off,” Fannon said. “When I got here it came within 10 feet of a barn off Shipman Road. We got pretty lucky there was no damage to any of the structures.”
More than a dozen firefighters from St. Marys City, St. Marys Township, New Knoxville and Buckland arrived on the scene to help douse the field. Crews used tanker trucks and grass fire trucks to help dampen the field and extinguish the fire.
Fannon said because of the dry spell, he issued a no burning advisory for Noble Township. The fire official said residents burning other items besides lawn debris are putting their safety at risk.
“They shouldn’t be burning at all,” Fannon said. “It’s just too dry.”
St. Marys Fire Chief Ken Cline said crews fought the fire by dousing the field with water to make sure the corn stubble could not re-ignite. Cline also encouraged residents to refrain from open burning.
“There has to be common sense,” Cline said. “Right now the grass trucks are out dampening the field to make sure we’ve got it down.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 28 October 2008 )
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