SISTERSVILLE, W.Va. — A Tyler County farmer lost several hay bales and part of his second cutting, but quick work by the local volunteer fire department probably saved him a whole lot more.
The Sistersville Volunteer Fire Department got the call to a remote location about five miles outside of town this past Saturday afternoon. They arrived to find fire spread across a field of freshly cut and baled hay.
“It was quite a challenge due to the lack of water out there,” said Sistersville Volunteer Fire Department Captain Andrew Pratt. “It was in a hay field and he was baling and it was wind driven.”
But with help from the Middlebourne Volunteer Fire Department crews managed to get the fire contained in about a half hour. The quick work probably saved a lot more headache according to Pratt.
“We were trying to keep it from hitting the wood line,” he said. “If it had hit the wood line and headed down into the valley we would have been in trouble, but we got a pretty good knockdown on it.”
As for a cause, nobody knows for certain, but Pratt and the farmer surmised it may have started when a hot bearing in the hay baler set fire to loose dust and hay material on one bale creating the slow combustion.
The fire burned a number of fresh hay bales sitting in the field. Pratt said those presented more problems.
“When we got the fire under control, we brought a tractor in and piled them all up,” he said. “We let the fire do its thing and burn itself out, just making sure it didn’t get out and start another fire.”