By Melanie McGee
Yates Center News – September 26, 2013
Submitted by Newz Group Clipping Service – October 21, 2013
C&H Hay Company lost a 60×125 steel building and almost all the straw, prairie hay and alfalfa hay inside it during a Wednesday, September 18 fire north of Yates Center, but Woodson County Rural Fire Chief Nick Barney said the damage could have been much worse.
With help from friends, neighbors and the Woodson County Rural Fire Department, owners Mike and Brenda Holloway of Yates Center were able to save the round bales stored directly north of the barn on Prairie Road just south of 170th Road.
The fire started approximately 12:30 p.m., and Barney said reports indicated that the entire barn was engulfed in flames within three to four minutes.
“Mike was loading alfalfa on a semi when it started, and he had time to get 15 or 20 bales out,” Barney said. “The fire started on the east side of the barn and it was fully engulfed when we got there.”
At the time of the fire, the barn contained approximately 690 small square bales of straw, 896 bales of 3x3x8 prairie hay, 72 bales of 3x4x8 prairie hay, 883 bales of 3x3x8 alfalfa hay and 126 bales of 3x4x8 alfalfa hay. Barney said the total value of the hay and barn would likely exceed $200,000.
A total of 15 firemen responded to the call with four brush trucks and three tankers, and several friends and neighbors brought tractors and trucks to the scene in order to move round bales out of the fire’s path. Hundreds of round bales were loaded onto trailers and hauled to another part of the field south of the barn.
“Our main objective was to keep the fire contained until they could get all the round bales moved from north of the barn,” Barney said. He added that the fire could have been much worse if it occurred later in the year when grass around the barn was dry and more flammable.
Firefighters remained on the scene until 4:15 p.m. and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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