Labor Day weekend no holiday for IVFD as calls are answered

    Three calls over Labor Day weekend, and another two days earlier, kept the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department on alert as very dry conditions continue in the area.
    Firefighters responded to four calls the past week, one a rescue call Friday when an ag worker’s foot was caught in a potato equipment conveyor.
    First Asst. Chief Brad Wheeler said the 9 a.m. call Friday took them to the Road 335/Avenue 742 intersection northeast of Imperial.
    A Frenchman Valley Produce crew was working on potatoes when a worker’s foot became entangled in the equipment, Wheeler said.
    Firefighters attempted to use the IVFD’s jaws equipment, but that was causing the man pain, Wheeler said.
    Owner Tim May and his crew then disassembled the equipment, and that freed the man’s foot.
    Wheeler said there were no visible signs of major injury, but he was taken to Chase County Community Hospital by Imperial EMS.
    Wheeler said whenever they are called to a rescue involving ag equipment, it’s good to know the type/make of equipment involved. If IVFD officers do know that, they can then get in touch with local equipment dealers and attempt to get someone on scene for possible assistance, he said.
Other fire calls
    The IVFD was called early Sunday, shortly after 2 a.m., to Imperial Parkview-Heights when a smoke alarm went off.
    Fire Chief Doug Mitchell said nothing was found after firefighters masked up and went inside with thermal cameras to search.
    They spent 30-40 minutes on scene. Imperial EMS also responded.
    About 11:55 p.m. Monday, IVFD was paged to a fire four miles west of Imperial on Prior ground, Mitchell said.
    The fire apparently started in some trees on the property, and near an old farmstead, then moved north into some pasture ground, where it burned about five acres, he said.
    It was not an electrical issue with overhead Highline Electric wires, he added, and the cause remains undetermined.
    Some of the firefighters, including Mitchell, returned to the site the next day. Mitchell said that didn’t yield any answers and nothing was suspicious when they reviewed the area in daylight.
    On Aug. 31, IVFD extinguished a fire in a baler owned by Rob Schilke, north of Imperial east of Highway 61.
    The 3 p.m. call found the baler fully involved after Mitchell said they could see smoke from the edge of town.
    Something in the baler became hot, he said, as they were putting up round bales and it spread, fully engulfing the baler, which was destroyed.
    It was fortunate, he added, that it was in an area of a field where it didn’t spread and there was no wind, considering the dry conditions.