By, Aaron Adelson
Aadelson@kcautv.com
Twitter: @aadelsonkcau
Fires continue to leave their mark on Siouxland, as yet another burns hundreds of acres of farm land. This time disaster struck near Oto, IA.
When we asked the firefighters how large the fire got, they just stared blankly and said huge. All that's left of the bean field where the fire started is just burned dirt and residue. You could still smell the fire in the air an hour later, and the strong winds we're seeing helped ignite the fire into a massive 200 acre blaze.
Firefighters arrived on the scene of a large fire just after noon today.
"A lot of smoke and apparently a combine had sparked off a blaze in a soybean field. It had jumped 290th here, and it had already jumped the fence, jumped the road when I got here, and all the department's were called in at the same time," said Curt Larson, the Smithland Fire Chief.
The downed power lines show the strength of the fire. For the six departments that responded, the fire was just about all they could take.
"Two hours, one and half to two hours, seemed like forever, but winds like this, I just don't know," said Larson.
He doesn't know how quickly the fire spread, but he says it was hard to keep up with.
"I would say it took a couple hundred acres here today, and there's just, once it starts on a day like today, it's tough to get ahead of it, there's standing corn and beans, and it's tough to get ahead of it," said Larson.
Some rain is forecasted for tonight, but in the meantime firefighters urge people to remain cautious in the these dry, windy conditions.
