ALVADA - About 50 firefighters from three departments battled a fire that damaged about 25 acres of a wheat field in Big Spring Township Tuesday afternoon.
NBS Capt. John Mathias said the field at US 23 and TR 96 is owned by Eugene Wagner. He said a crew is installing new rails on a CSX railroad nearby, and he assumed that is what sparked the fire.
Mathias said the wheat was dry and was about ready to be harvested. The wind kept the field burning, he said.
Article Photos
PHOTO BY JILL GOSCHE
Ronald Coleman (left) and Dave Borer, NBS firefighters, spend time atop a fire truck at the scene of a field fire at US 23 and TR 96 Tuesday.
"We had about eight-tenths (of an inch of rain) Sunday," he said.
Several buildings, including a house and barn, are located next to the field. Mathias said firefighters' main objective when they arrived was to save any surrounding buildings. No buildings caught fire, he said.
Mathias said he saw a lot of yellow smoke in the sky, and he couldn't see across the highway for a period of time because of the smoke. Mike Reinhart, an NBS firefighter, said flames were about as high as the two-story house.
"The smoke was higher," he said.
Personnel from NBS, Bascom Joint Fire District, Washington Township Fire Department and New Riegel EMS responded to the fire. A Seneca County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said the office received a call about the fire from CSX at 4:49 p.m.
Mathias said he was not aware of any injuries.
