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Fire fighters spend 17 hours at hay fire near Pigeon - now burning safely in a field - video
Craig Routzahn
Tue, 21 Jul 2020 12:36:37 EDT
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Fire fighters spent about 17 hours Monday and into early Tuesday morning fighting a stubborn hay fire at Strieter Hay Farm at 8333 Campbell Road, north east of Pigeon. Winsor Township fire chief Nick Pavlicheck told us they were called out after 9 Monday morning and the last truck left the scene at 2:30 this (Tues.) morning. In the end they used excavating equipment to pull the piles down to spread it out. Then they hauled it into an open field, where its still burning, and can be seen more than 6 miles away. Some 2000 large square bales were involved and they were able to protect two large buildings that held more hay and straw. The fire eventually spread to three piles that were stacked outside. The cause of the fire has not been determined. He said the owner has probes that go into the piles to make sure they don't overheat and cause a fire. There was no dollar estimate on the loss. Winsor Township fire fighters were assisted by Caseville, Elkton-Oliver Township, Harbor Beach Fire Department with their foam truck, Sigel Township, Fair Haven Township, Owendale, Sebewaing, Unionville and Bad Axe which brought the air pack trailer. There were also 4 to 5 local farmers that were helping shuttle water to the scene. He estimated that they used between 5 to 6 hundred thousand gallons of water fighting the fire. They were utilizing water sources like the nearby Pigeon River and a quarry to meet the water needs. There were no injuries, just a lot of exhausted fire fighters.
