Authorities are considering a third fire in six months in the Bethel area suspicious. After nearly a week, smoke is still smoldering from hay bales at a farm off Coffee Branch Road. Officials said fire badly damaged a hay shed and the bales inside early Thursday morning. Crews arrived on the scene shortly after 2 a.m. Several departments, including Center Pigeon, stayed on the scene for hours. “No electricity and no lightning in the area. So, that makes this suspicious,” Center Pigeon Fire Chief Johnny Pless said. Pless ruled out combustion as a possible cause of the fire since the hay bales had been in the shed more than two years and wouldn't have had enough moisture content. The still smoldering bales were hauled into the middle of the field to burn themselves out.
In December, a nearby barn burned down, and in January, thousands of wooden pallets burned.