IVFD answers three grass fire calls over two days

    In a period of just over 30 hours last week, the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department responded to three fire calls throughout its district.
    All three were grass fires, giving testimony to the dry conditions then and wind.
    The IVFD responded to six small, individual fires last Thursday morning, the first reported just north of T-Junction in a ditch along the Miracle Mile.
    Fire Chief Doug Mitchell said as they were finishing up there, the dispatcher called them with two more small ditch fires, reported along 738 Road, east of the 12th St. and Highway 61 intersection.
    Then, three more were reported along 336 Avenue, north of 738 Road. All of them were started in the ditches, Mitchell said.
    “We have no clue how they were started,” Mitchell said.
    They suspect it was a vehicle with either a hot bearing or bad muffler who drove that route that day, but a driver hasn’t been identified.
    A grass fire west of Imperial burned one to two acres of grass, and an unused parked vehicle on Friday.    
    The 12 noon call took the IVFD and Lamar Volunteer Fire Department to 321 Avenue, north of Highway 61, near the old Olan and Mary Wallin place, now owned by son Dan Wallin.
    Mitchell said Wallin had acquired a burn permit a few days earlier, and had piled some trees into the pit with plans to burn them later. He believed the fire was out, Mitchell said.
    Apparently there were still hot embers below, he said, and when the wind came up, the tree pile ignited. It spread into the grass to the north, as well as a car parked in its path. The car was totalled.
    Mitchell credited several area farmers who were on the scene and helped stop the fire’s advancement.
    The IVFD was in the far southwest part of its district later Friday afternoon for a pair of ditch fires that burned into grass along 320 Road in Dundy County. About five acres of grass burned onto property owned by Shawn Jones and the Ambroseks.
    Mitchell said they haven’t determined the cause. Highline Electric was on the scene when the fire burned near some utility poles, and got them hot, he said.  
    Departments from Lamar and Benkelman were also called in, but were turned back by the IVFD when Imperial reached the scene, Mitchell said.

 

The Imperial Republican

308-882-4453 (Phone)

622 Broadway St

PO Box 727

Imperial, NE 69033