Firefighters by nature have a clear goal when it comes to completing their job successfully. They respond to a fire and put it out, and the event is over. Perhaps occasionally, the fire rekindles back to life later and requires extra extinguishing hours later. But rarely would anyone imagine firefighters having to fight the SAME fire over and over again over an extended period of time. This phenomenon occurred recently for the Clarion Fire Department.
Last month, the local Fire Department found themselves responding to a grain bin fire several times over the course of more than two weeks. The same bin, the same fire, over and over again. The bin in question was located at the feed mill on Highway 69, southeast of Clarion. The mill is owned by Gold-Eagle Cooperative out of Goldfield. The site was previously owned by North Central Co-op before they merged with Gold-Eagle last year.
Longtime Clarion firefighter and the department’s public information officer Greg Littlejohn said the grain bin in question was filled with corn. Thousands of bushels of corn. This made for quite the complicated task when the corn was discovered to be burning. Gold-Eagle General Manager Chris Boshart called it “a hot spot” within the bin.
The bin fire was a slow burning nuisance by all accounts. Littlejohn described the situation. He explained that a company was brought in to clean the smoldering corn out of the bin. This is a long painstaking process that went on over the course of weeks. Several times during that process, the Clarion Fire Department had to be there. “We had to stay on station during that time and be ready with water. It takes a lot of manpower and water for this kind of thing.”
Littlejohn said each time they went out there they had between five and eight guys and ended up putting at least 5,000 gallons of water on the grain per trip. They utilized two trucks in the process, with one staying at the site dousing the grain with water while the other truck went back to fill up.
One might wonder why they had to keep coming back to the mill time after time. Littlejohn explains that this isn’t just a situation like a structure fire where you squirt some water on it and it’s out. Rather, as the corn is removed from the bin much more surface area gets exposed that is capable of burning. “Imagine millions and millions of kernels, changing shape, cascading down. It’s like shooting at a moving target,” Littlejohn said.
He describes the meticulous process of trying to find hot spots in the bins. “We go into the bin with air masks on and a thermal imager. We can see the hot spots and then we get water on them. Then more gets scooped out of the bin and we have to repeat the whole process as the corn gets stirred up.”
Gold-Eagle did not offer information as to how long the fire was burning or how it started. A Farm Progress article notes that bin fires can be caused by a number of factors including conditions in bins and the equipment used to dry the grain. Such fires are not uncommon in ag country. There have been several reported across Iowa in the last several months, including one late last fall in Warren County that resulted in the total loss of the bin and over a thousand bushels of corn.
Not surprisingly then, both Littlejohn and Boshart emphasized that in addition to personal safety, their big concern throughout the nearby bin fire was protecting property. Littlejohn said the department worked hard with the Gold-Eagle folks to prevent as much corn loss as possible and maintain the integrity of the bin. Boshart added, “It’s hard to estimate [losses] at this time but it appears that there will be a few loads of corn that won’t be able to be salvaged.” He was happy to report though that “the vast majority of the corn will have found a market where it can be used.”
By last week, Boshart indicated the fire ordeal has wound down. He stated, “We are currently finishing up the cleanup effort. All of the corn has been removed from the bin. We believe that by the end of next week all of the bushels will be picked up and hauled away.”
Boshart added that Gold-Eagle is thankful for the Clarion Fire Department’s invaluable efforts. “We are grateful for the support of the Fire Department as we worked through the bin fire,” the general manager said. City councilmember Andy Young also brought up the department’s diligence in a recent council meeting. He stated, “I want to thank the fire department for their time and effort spent protecting lives and property. We are very fortunate to have a trained volunteer fire department ready to handle such a fire.”
On the department’s end, they were happy to be of assistance. Littlejohn affirmed, “Gold-Eagle has been very supportive of us so we’re glad to help.” Hopefully though, their services will not be needed in that capacity for a while to come.
