Charles City and area fire departments battle bales blaze

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Firefighters from Charles City and five other departments responded Wednesday, June 19, to a late night fire south of Charles City in a shed stacked full of large round bales.

The Charles City Fire Department was first called to the scene in the 2500 block of 220th Street at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, and other fire departments were quickly also called.

The fire was raging in the back of a 40-by-60 foot quonset shed that was open on both ends, with fire equipment access limited from reaching the back side.

“Immediately upon arrival the first crew attacked the front of the building to protect some of the equipment parked nearby, according to a report by the CCFD. “Once the equipment was removed crews then started attacking the fire from the front and the rear of the structure, allowing the homeowner to remove numerous bales stored nearby, preventing the fire from spreading or causing additional loss of bales.”

Michelle Krumwiede, who with her husband, Steven, owns the farm, said their dog, Finnegan, had started barking continually and acting like something was wrong. Soon after that a deputy came to their door and said there was a fire in one of the buildings on the property.

“This is heartbreaking,” she said. “We have cattle. These are all new bales.”

The CCFD reported, “Fires like this are exceptionally difficult to extinguish due to how tight the straw or hay is wrapped.”

The Charles City Fire Department said it wanted to thank all the other fire departments – Floyd, Colwell, Rockford, Marble Rock and Nashua – for helping transport water with their tanker trucks.

“Rural fires require us to draft water from our drop tanks and if the tanks run empty we lose all abilities to fight,” the Charles City report stated. Tanker trucks shuttled water to the scene from a station set up at Hog Slats on South Grand Avenue.

The Charles City department was on the call for about 2½ hours, including cleanup and refitting trucks, the department reported.

Also responding to the fire in addition to the fire departments were the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, Floyd County Emergency Management Agency and AMR ambulance on standby.