A fire early Wednesday morning in north central Page County resulted in the destruction of a hoop barn containing about 200 large round bales of hay, but no one was injured.

Photo by Brian Hamman/Montgomery County Emergency Management Agency Coordinator.

According to reports, the call from the scene of the fire at 1011 Ironwood Avenue, near Nyman, came in at around 5-a.m., Wednesday.  As the first fire crews approached the property owned by Todd Allen, heavy smoke and fire could be seen from  a long distance away.

Montgomery Co. EMA/photo (Brian Hamman)

When they arrived, one out of three hoop barns were on fire. In the end, despite several hours worth of effort from as many as seven area fire departments, the hoop barn was a total loss, but crews managed to save the remaining two barns.  Fire officials say they believe spontaneous combustion is to blame for the blaze.

The hoop barn fire wasn’t the only hay-related blaze to have occurred Wednesday. Firefighters from Stanton and Red Oak also fought a 20-bale fire at a separate location in Stanton.

Damage to nearby hoop barn. (Brian Hamman/photo)

Officials with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) say small, non-farm businesses in 67 Iowa Counties are now eligible to apply for low-interest federal disaster loans from the SBA. The loans are designed to offset economic losses because of reduced revenues caused by the drought which began on August 7th, in the primary counties.

The primary counties in the KJAN listening area include: Adair, Adams, Carroll, Cass, Crawford, Dallas, Fremont, Greene, Guthrie, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Sac and Shelby. The neighboring counties of Madison, Ringgold, Taylor and Union, are also eligible for the loans.

Small, non-farm business, small agricultural cooperatives, and most private non-profit organizations of any size, may qualify for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) of up to $2-million, to help meet financial obligations and operating expenses which could have been met, had the disaster not occurred.  Businesses primarily engaged in farming or ranching, are not eligible for the SBA disaster assistance.

The deadline to apply for the loans is April 15th, 2013. For more information, go to https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela or call 1-800-659-2955.