Western Iowa firefighters were kept busy, Sunday, battling a variety of field/brush and other fires. Crews from the Creston Fire Department responded at around 11:42-a.m. to a request for mutual aid from Adams County, to provide water and manpower to fight a field fire near Vanilla and Highway 34. Other crews at the scene include those with the Lenox, Corning, Clearfield, and Prescott Fire Departments.

Last week, Creston Firefighters responded also, to a structure fire 1310 E Howard St, White River (formerly known as Benson Hill). Crews worked with White River staff to locate and extinguish fire on three floors of the production facility. The fire was contained to the production pipelines. Mutual aid was received from the Afton Volunteer Fire Department and Lenox Iowa Fire Department. Medics from Greater Regional Hospital in Creston were also on-hand. The call went out at around 3-p.m. On Feb. 29^th.

At around 12:36-p.m., Sunday, crews from the Red Oak, Elliott and Stanton Fire Departments were dispatched to 1301 E Cherry St in Red Oak for a dumpster on fire next to a residence. Fire crews arrived a short time later and were able to contain the fire to the dumpster. The residence was checked for extension and none was found. The dumpster belonging to Batten Sanitation sustained some damage from the fire. It appears minimal to none to the residence itself. The residence was not occupied at the time. The incident is being investigated by the Red Oak PD and Red Oak FD at this time. The property belonged to Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church. No injuries reported. Montgomery County 911 assisted in the handling the incident.

At around 3-p.m., Sunday (March 3^rd) the Missouri Valley Fire Department was called to a field fire that was rapidly escalating. Modale Fire was dual paged to assist. “Ironically,” officials said, “ Logan and Magnolia had their own wildfire at the same time.” The wind and smoke obscured the true size of the fire so Mo. Valley Fire also requested Mondamin and Crescent to respond. After reassessing the scene and having crews work the fire it was decided to cancel Mondamin and Crescent. Modale and Mo. Valley F-D crews handled the bulk of the fire with the assistance of two tractors with disks (these made a HUGE difference in keeping the fire from spreading more quickly and were greatly appreciated).

An estimated 5-to 6 acres were burned. Authorities believe the cause of the fire was from two fuses that blew on a nearby power pole. Officials say to put in to context how quickly the fire spread in the high winds: the call was at 3pm; crews were on the scene within 12 minutes, but by then the fire had spread across approximately 4 acres- that’s how dry it is and how the wind can push a fire. The Department says “If the fire would have made it to Willow Creek that would have been very detrimental. Examples like these are why we are asking for no burning until we get moisture.” In addition to the aforementioned fire departments, Deputies with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office and Missouri Valley Police assisted at the scene with traffic control.

On Sunday, multiple agencies spent the afternoon fighting a fire in central Iowa, off Interstate 80 in Jasper County, just north of Mitchellville. The call of a grass fire came in around 1 p.m., according to Jasper County Emergency Management. High winds caused the fire to move quickly and crews to work even harder to contain it. The cause of the fire is not immediately known.