Five area fire departments worked for ten hours on Wednesday to extinguish a fire that burned 1500 round cornstalk bales near Rock Valley.
According to Rock Valley Fire Chief Brent Eshuis, about 3:45 p.m., the Rock Valley Fire Department was called to the report of a ditch fire with round bales on fire in the 3400 block of Fig Avenue, three miles south of Rock Valley and one mile east.
The chief says the fire department saw a large hay fire as they approached the scene. He says it appears to have started when a ditch fire went out of control and started the nearby round bales on fire. He says it also burned an electric line and pole owned by MidAmerican Energy. He says they called the electric company, who assisted on-scene. Eshuis tells us they sprayed the bales down and a local excavator helped them by pulling them apart.