50 blazing bales battled for 5 hours
Staff writer
Durham firefighter spent five hours battling 50 burning hay bales Monday evening near 300th and Eagle Rds.
Durham fire chief Mark Wiebe said the bales apparently were caught on fire by exhaust from a hay grinder being used at the time.
“They had ground about 10 bales and had 50 left to go,” Wiebe said.
Wiebe said 11 Durham fire firefighters fought the blaze and two Tampa firefighters brought a tanker truck because there was no water supply.
“One of the firefighters went to his place and brought his loader back so we could spread out the burning bales,” Wiebe said. “That helped us put the fire out.”
Headphones purchased with a matching grant from Kansas Fire Service were helpful so the loader operator and crew members on the ground could communicate, Wiebe said.