3/9/2006: Mutual Aid to a Corn Stubble Fire
At around 1530 hours, the Wessington Fire Department was requested to respond to a corn stubble fire 1 mile south and 2 miles west of Wessington. Since it has been pretty dry, I drove down to the fire hall just in case they decided to call us for mutual aid.
When their first units arrived, they figured they could handle it on their own, so I went back out to the shop. No sooner had I arrived at the shop, they decided that they did need some assistance and we were paged (approximatly 1545 hours).
We responded with two brush trucks and two pumpers to the fire which was about 15 miles from Miller. Upon arrival, we assisted the Wessington FD with extinguishment. Fire behavior was minimal since the WFD had knocked most of it down already. There wasn't much wind and the temperature was cool too.
I'm guessing the size of the fire was 30 acres. The fire was originally a controlled burn by the occupant and it got away from him.
We were back in service in Miller by 1800 hours.
UPDATE: Added these pictures.
The corn stubble that was burning.
Wessington FD engine with the town of Wessington in the background.
Miller FD Brush Truck F10 with firefighters getting ready to pump some water. Why does this truck have "St. Lawrence Fire Deparment" on it? A few years ago the Miller FD and the St. Lawrence FD combined into one department. Miller and St. Lawrence are only 2 miles apart.
Miller FD Engine F2 flanked by engines from Wessington FD. Hand County Emergency Manager's truck is on the right.
UPDATE: All pictures courtesy of Hand County Emergency Management.
