(Radio Iowa) – A massive fire Sunday afternoon along Highway 34 near Red Oak, illustrates how quickly a grass fire can escalate in current conditions. Montgomery County Emergency Management Coordinator Brian Hamman says fire fighters arrived on the scene shortly after a small fire in a ditch was reported late Sunday afternoon. “Within a matter of two to three minutes the fire grew to the point where it was running north and there was no way to stop it,” Hamman says.

“At that point, we made the decision to start evacuating homes and call for additional mutual aid resources to the scene.” Hamman says a couple of farmers were already on the scene with discs, trying to cut fire breaks, when the first fire engines arrived. “The fire grew rapidly and very intensively,” Hamman says. Nearly 12 dozen fire fighters and more then five dozen vehicles from 18 area fire departments ultimately responded. “A very massive response, especially for our area, unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Hamman says.

“Obviously, early on, we didn’t know if we were going to get it stopped.” Hamman credits the dozen or so farmers who joined in the fire fight. “I can’t stress enough how beneficial it is to have the farmers out there with us with tractors and discs, happy to help, happy to put their machinery at risk for us and for their neighbors,” Hamman says, “because, honestly, it was the tractors and discs that saved the western part of the county.” The fire consumed 750 acres.

Hamman says it was an intense scene with extreme winds whipping up smoke and dust — and spreading the fire. “Unfortunately we did have two fire fighters who sustained very minor burns as a result of their active fire fighting efforts, but thankfully no other injuries.” There was a grass fire in the same area two weeks ago and investigators believe strong winds on Sunday may have rekindled it.

(Radio Iowa) – Information gathered by the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy shows an increase in alcohol-related deaths from 440 in 2011 to 827 in 2021. The director of the office. Dale Woolery, says the pandemic could be part of the reason for the increase. “I think some of that happened regardless of the pandemic, but the pandemic it seems, may have exacerbated, not just excessive alcohol use, but the use of other addictive or intoxicating substances,” Woolery says.

He says alcohol wasn’t the only issue during the pandemic. “For the two-year period, I think from 2019 to 2021, we saw increases pretty much across the board in alcohol-related deaths, opioid overdose deaths, stimulant overdose deaths, to include then all drug overdose deaths,” he says. “So I don’t know, you know, some of that again, and it’s hard to know how much of that might have been pandemic related.” Woolery says there is one thing that stands out about the deaths linked to alcohol.

“We see that a lot of those skew older as far as the age of the individuals. When we look at the drug overdose deaths, those are spread fairly evenly throughout different age groups,” Woolery says. He says alcohol deaths are often part of a larger medical history. “Some of the alcohol deaths — and maybe many of them — involve chronic health conditions where alcohol contributes to or causes things, like liver disease, or heart disease, and other diseases that may take years to develop or manifest themselves to the point of causing death,” he says.

He says the drug overdose deaths are usually much quicker — and more recently they can happen pretty quickly without long-term drug use. Woolery says those who study this as a matter of cultural differences have historically found Iowa and other Midwestern states have had a track record of higher than average drinking with binge and excessive drinking included. “We trend in Iowa above the national average on things like binge drinking and nicotine use. By contrast, Iowa trends lower than the national average, and among the lowest states, actually, in terms of illicit drug use rates, and drug overdose death rates. So that gives us some context, that’s helpful, I guess,” Woolery says.

Woolery says we might be relatively low for drug overdose deaths — but we have trended up over the last two years — so those numbers are not going in the direction we want. There were 258 opioid-related deaths in Iowa in 2021. The ODCP gathers the information to create its report to the governor each year and it is used to set its drug control policies.

(Denison, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol reports eight people – six teenagers (4 17-year-old’s from Storm Lake, a 16-year-old from Defiance), an eight-year old and an adult – were injured during a collision that happened a little after 2-a.m. Sunday, in Crawford County. The crash happened on westbound US Highway 30, west of Lincoln Way.

Authorities say a 2015 Honda Pilot driven by a 17-year-old was eastbound in the westbound lanes, at the same time a 2012 GMC Acadia driven by 50-year-old Cari Segebart, from Defiance, was traveling westbound. The vehicles collided head-on and slightly left before coming to rest on the road.

Four of the teens were in the Honda, the two 16-year-olds were in the GMC, along with the driver and an eight-year old. None of the crash victims were wearing a seat belt. The accident victims were transported to the Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison.

The accident remains under investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – Due to parched conditions, field fires are popping up around the state this fall. A fire south of the golf course in Sidney on Sunday was finally contained after it scorched nearly 350 acres. Dustin Sheldon is the assistant fire chief in Sidney. He says firefighters in all but one town in Fremont County and some units from neighboring Page County battled the blaze — and local farmers cut fire breaks. “We probably had 10 to 12 discs out in the fields, trying flank the fire,” he says.

The initial report about the fire was made to the Riverton Fire Department at about 2:40 p.m. Sunday and it took four hours to contain it. “The winds were terrible,” Sheldon says. “I think we were at 30-35 mile an hour sustained winds during the entire active fire scene.” The fire burned a few acres of corn that hadn’t been harvested and spread into a wooded area. “Always creates a problem when you get timber to burn and it’s hard to put those out without a dozer or a big tree where you can cut everything down…We weren’t able to do that,” he says. “Our dozer out there was pretty busy doing what he was doing and we did get all the ground disced around those wooded fence lines and things like that.”

Investigators believe the fire started in a road ditch and was sparked by a short in a light pole.  “We can’t emphasize enough how important it is for people not to flick a cigarette out the window or burn your trash or anything like that because it’s dangerous out,” Sheldon says. “…Until we get some significant moisture, it’s going to be that way.” The National Weather Service shows the fire threat for cropland in the entire state is at moderate, high or great risk.

Pastures and grassy areas in the northwest corner of Iowa are rated at high risk of fire, with several other areas of the state at moderate risk.

(Lewis, Iowa) – The Cass County Conservation officials on Monday (today) released information with regard to the 7th Biennial Lighted Halloween Campground event on Oct. 22nd, at Cold Springs State Park, in Lewis.  There were 187 votes cast for a favorite camping site.

The first-place winner was Site 2, the Dougherty family with the Alien décor. The second-place winner was Site 7, the Griswold Cub Scout Pack, and the third-place winner was Site 8, the “Marne Crew”. The Lighted Halloween Campground will be held in 2024!

Dougherty family décor

The Cass County Conservation Board would like to thank their business sponsor Cappel’s Ace Hardware, who donated the prizes to the Lighted Halloween Campground. They would also like to thank everyone who signed up to decorate a site, thank you for sharing your Halloween décor with everyone!

Williams family representing the “Marne crew” (3rd place), Dougherty family (1st place), and Donahoo Family representing Cub scouts (2nd place).

Griswold Cub Scouts decor

“Marne crew” decor

(Stuart, Iowa) – Stuart Fire and Rescue personnel were dispatched at around 2:30-p.m. today (Monday), to a three-vehicle, unknown injury accident. Two of the vehicles were apparently semi tractor-trailers. The crash occurred on Interstate 80 westbound at mile marker 92. The roadway is said to be blocked in that location. Additional information was not immediately available.

(Radio Iowa) – Michael Franken, the Democrat running against Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, says American ingenuity is the answer to the country’s energy challenges. Franken, a retired admiral, says his experience in the Navy indicates nuclear power can be an option. “The Navy puts nuclear reactors way underwater and way up in space and on surface ships all over the world, so this is known technology,” Franken says. “We can adapt this.”

Franken says a small nuclear reactor, about the size of a house, with a core-life of 30 years could be managed by a very small staff and used to power small to medium sized cities. Franken says Iowa could make more use of solar power as well. “There’s a lot of land out there that can be used in solar arrays,” Franken says, “and solar arrays are getting better and better all the time.”

Franken says other countries, like Portugal, get a good share of their electricity from solar power. “Entire nations whose electrical grid is predicated on a good solar underpinning,” Franken says, “and they’re at a latitude that’s north of us.” This past weekend, Franken campaigned in Sioux Center, about 10 miles east of his birthplace in the small Sioux County town of Lebanon.

(Radio Iowa) – A new report from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) tries to predict how climate change will affect Midwest crop yields in the next decade and beyond. E-D-F lead senior scientist Eileen McLellan says the report finds climate change will bring corn yields down more than five percent across all Iowa counties. “There’s no question that things are going to get much, much, much worse by 2050. But some of the adaptations, like shifting to a different crop, are going to take quite a few years to implement,” she says. The report’s climate models predict that by 2030, Iowa will see more warm days that are good for corn growth, but will see even more days of extreme heat that will stunt yields.

Iowa State University emeritus professor of agronomy, Gene Takle, says Iowa has had few heat waves compared to other parts of the country and the world. But the state has seen increasing rain. “The takeaway is, yes, there’s going to be some yield declines from the trend line. But because we’re starting at a more favorable condition, it’s not going to be as critical as it might be in some other parts of the world,” Takle says.

McLellan says farmers will have to scale up their climate-friendly practices after 2030 as climate change becomes more dramatic.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports two arrests took place late last week. 28-year-old Marvis Eugene Routh, II, of Des Moines, was arrested by Adair County Deputies on I-80 in Adair County at around 4-p.m., Friday. He was taken into custody on an Adair County warrant for Driving While License Denied or Revoked for OWI. He remains held in the Adair County Jail.

And, the Iowa State Patrol arrested 25-year-old Maliki Allen, of Omaha, at around 6-p.m. Friday, on I-80 in Adair County. Allen was being held in the Adair County Jail on warrants out of Nebraska for Failure to Appear on original Felony charges of Theft and Possession of Controlled Substances, and Domestic Assault.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa parents will want to make sure their trick-or-treaters stay safe when they make rounds this week. Tammy Noble, a registered nurse and educator at the Iowa Poison Control Center, says one thing to be careful with is glow sticks. “Sometimes we see kids break those,” Noble says. “They put them in their mouth. They might bite into it or sometimes even when they’re trying to open it and make it start glowing, it somehow will break and they can get the liquid splashed in their eyes.” While it’s important to stay visible during the nighttime candy runs, it’s also important to avoid hazards. The chemicals in glow sticks can be a problem if they splash a kid’s face.

“It’s really irritating to the eyes,” Noble says. “You need to irrigate the eyes really well for 15-20 minutes. But also, if they get it in their mouth, it stings and usually that will go away within an hour. Just wipe out the mouth and give them a little something to drink.” If the stinging persists longer than an hour, she suggests calling the poison center. Noble say to be selective if you’re buying make-up or face paints. “You want to make sure that you’re looking for something that is listed to be non-toxic,” Noble says. “Anything that looks old and maybe doesn’t smell right or doesn’t look right, just throw it away. It’s probably best not to keep it year after year after year. And you do want to test it on the skin beforehand.” In fact, she says to test those colors on the skin 48 hours before trick-or-treating, just to be on the safe side.

Some newer costumes light up and will come with a small battery pack to power those lights, which Noble says may also present a hazard. “We have to be very careful because sometimes those costumes contain a button battery,” Noble says. “Those types of little round, like the size of a small coin, like a dime, those could be swallowed and kids that could get it stuck in their esophagus.” Those batteries could cause internal burns if swallowed. Noble recommends kids wait until they get home to open their treats so parents can inspect the goodies for any signs of tampering.

The Sioux City-based Poison Control Center Hotline is available around-the-clock at 800-222-1222.