A week ago, heavy rains caused delays for many Iowa farmers who were eager to get to work on the harvest but the soil was too soggy. Now, the weather’s warm and dry and the combines are rolling, but field fires are becoming the big concern.
Firefighter Wes Baddeley, with the Gruver Fire Department in northwest Iowa’s Emmet County, says combines kick up a lot of dust and that can quickly become a problem with hot machinery.
“We want to make sure we keep them clean. A lot of guys use leaf blowers multiple times a day. Some of the stuff can’t be helped,” Baddeley says. “You want to make sure your fire extinguishers are charged that are on the combine and make sure you know where they’re at. We’ve been on quite a few calls where that little red bottle has saved the combine or even saved part of the field.”…