News

Field fire risk continues

A local fire chief who farms in southwestern Iowa says conditions are still favorable for field fires.

Fremont County’s Duane Aistrope tells Brownfield farmers need to continue fire prevention practices as they finish harvesting their crops.

“We blow off our combine, especially when it’s really dry,” he said. “We will blow it off at least once per day, look for any bearings that are getting hot, or if it has a higher temperature than normal.”

He says they should also be cautious when doing other farm work.

“Whether you’re going out there cleaning some fence rows or making some brush piles,” Aistrope said. “If you decide to burn that night, you want to be careful and look forward in the forecast. If there’s going to be (high) winds the next day, then definitely do not light that.”

Aistrope says two large field fires burned more than a thousand acres in his area in recent days.