Fire crews were called out Friday, June 20 to fight a fire at the Iowa State University Dairy Barn.
Smoke was reported coming from a hay storage building at 52540 260th St. early that morning, and the Ames Fire Department responded at about 2:20 a.m., Deputy Fire Chief Tom Hackett said.
The fire was contained within the hay in the structure, so there was no structural damage, Hackett said. About ⅓ of the hay bales were salvaged.
“We were able to contain it within the building within 20 minutes of arriving on the scene,” Hackett said. “It took a considerable amount of time to get to the seed of the fire as it burned within those hay bales.”
Staff from Iowa State Dairy Barn used heavy equipment to remove bales of hay from the building so firefighters could get to the burning material at the center of the structure. The Kelley/West Story Fire Association, Huxley Fire Rescue and Slater Fire Department all assisted with rural water supply operations at the scene.
The fire was “essentially out” as of 10:13 a.m., Hackett said, with crews hitting just a few “hot spots” in the hay.
The cause of the fire is still unknown and an investigation is ongoing.
Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Hay bales catch fire at Iowa State University Dairy Barn
Reporting by Celia Brocker, Ames Tribune / Ames Tribune
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