Harvester Ignites Grain Field
 | Author:
Nancy Marks, Reporter
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Harvester Ignites Grain Field
Nancy Marks
Reporter
Tinder-dry ground, a strong north breeze and a moving grain combine sparked a 188-acre fire Saturday, August 12 on Clopton Lane, just off Highway 12 eight miles east of Townsend. Shirley Wilson, owner of a dryland wheat ranch, said she was thankful the fire was contained as fast as it was. “Thank God for neighbors and farmers,” she said,” They showed up and started working the minute the call went out to the fire department.”
Toston farmer Mitch Foth was manning a new combine on the dryland piece when he lowered the brand-new header down to pick up low-lying grain. He explained from there. “It must have hit a rock that sparked on the chopper. I didn’t even know it was burning until the guy running our second combine saw the fire and motioned to me. I turned around in the seat to see a small patch on the ground behind me. I jumped out of the cab with the fire extinguisher. Then I saw the whole combine was on fire.”
From there, a big gust of wind came up and the fire took off. Foth realized it was too late for him to put it out so he made a run for it. That was about 1:30 p.m. Within 15 minutes several nearby farmers had equipment in the field. Brandon Flynn brought his tractor and disc. Brothers Jacob, Mike and Daniel Davis quickly brought in their tractors with discs and their grader to begin building a fire line. When they were able to contain the fast-moving fire, they began discing into the burned ground to expose any fires still burning. A shaken Wilson pointed out an important point: “The fire went right to my fence line, but the fire line saved it from going into my neighbor’s ground.”
The call to the fire department came in at 2:09 p.m. Toston, Winston, Radersburg, Park Trail and Townsend rural fire departments responded to the call. By 4:00 p.m. the blaze was pretty well contained. Townsend City Fire Chief Shawn Simon, who acted as incident commander, said 26 firefighters fought the blaze. He had contacted both the US Forest Service and the Department of Natural Resources, but by the time they arrived, the fire was contained. “It helped so much having every unit show up and work together,” he said. Simon especially wanted to thank everyone who worked to keep the blaze contained.
The Davis brothers who farm on Dry Gulch, also serve on the rural fire department. “They know how to put out fires and they practice on a regular basis, ” Bill Davis, their grandfather, said. He was at the scene.
Mitch and Matt Foth, of Foth Potato Farms at Toston, lease the ground to grow dryland wheat. Matt, who was out of town on Saturday, said they were thankful no one was hurt and that the fire did not extend to the forest or neighboring property. “We had harvested most of the field, so that was a good thing. We lost our newest combine with a brand new header. Hopefully, insurance will cover some of the loss,” he said.
This fire was reminiscent of the Toston-Maudlow fire which burned 35,000 acres in 2000 in the same general area of the county also caused by a farm equipment spark.
Asked how the fire department recruits new volunteers, Mike Davis said they ask people interested in volunteering to come to the monthly department meeting held the first Wednesday of every month at the Fire Hall in Townsend. Persons interested in volunteering can also contact the rural fire chief, Ed Shindoll, (406) 949-5535
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