Press Release from Rock Valley Fire Chief
On Sunday, November 5, at approximately 3:40pm, Sioux County Communications received a report of a large hay bale fire that occurred at 2121 350th Street, nine miles southwest of Rock Valley, IA. The Rock Valley Fire Department responded and upon their arrival requested mutual aid from other fire departments for water and manpower due to the strong winds and large amount of hay bales that were involved.
Mutual Aid response from Iowa Fire Departments included Sioux Center Fire, Alton Fire, Boyden Fire, Granville Fire, Hawarden Fire, Hospers Fire, Hull Fire, Ireton Fire, Maurice Fire, Orange City Fire, Sheldon Fire, Inwood Fire, Larchwood Fire, Doon Fire, Alvord Fire, Akron Fire, and Le Mars Fire. South Dakota Fire Departments that responded were Fairview Fire, Canton Fire, Beresford Fire, Hudson Fire, Alcester Fire, Worthing Fire, and Harrisburg Fire. The Rock Valley Ambulance, Rock Valley Police Department, and Sioux County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene.
Rock Valley Fire Chief Brent Eshuis thanks those who responded to requests for assistance for heavy equipment to help battle the fire. The equipment that arrived to assist included payloaders, tractors with disks, excavators, and telehandlers. Chief Eshuis also thanks Pump and Pack and Sunshine Foods, both of Rock Valley, for food and water donations. Also, a thank you to the City of Rock Valley for checking the water levels, the Rural Water employees who assisted, and the Dispatchers who were busy paging all the responders. Chief Eshuis estimated that approximately 200,000 gallons of water were used to extinguish the approximately 1,000 bales as well as ensuring that no nearby cattle died as a result of the fire.
Chief Eshuis said, “I love living in a community where people come together and things just get done. We had volunteers and private individuals make and donate over 400 sandwiches in 20 minutes to help feed the responders. It is amazing how our communities come together to support each other.”
