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Dry and windy a recipe for field fires

Conditions are favorable for field fires in some parts of the Corn Belt.

Eastern Nebraska farmer Mitch Oswald says sparking a blaze is a major concern this year.

“It wouldn’t take much with as quick as this stuff has been drying down to lose a corn field to a fire.”

He tells Brownfield there was a close call in his area recently.

“We had a neighbor of ours, they had a guy out working on a pivot and his pickup started a (fire). Luckily his corn field was picked, but it started his corn field on fire like nothing.”

Shane Voith with the Rockwell City Fire Department in west-central Iowa says farmers should remove debris from combines.

“Taking a leaf blower and blow all that trash so if there’s anything hot and smoldering in there it won’t continue to cause a problem. Another thing that some producers have found to work is to drag a chain.”

He tells Brownfield the National Weather Service has issued several red flag warnings in recent days.

“Because of dry conditions, high winds, the temperature is a little bit elevated, and then the low humidity is a greater risk for fires.”

Voith says because there’s so much plastic in newer headers, combines don’t discharge static electricity like they used to and dragging a chain seems to help.