A pickup of wind caused of two large brush fires in our area – one in Blue Grass and one in Colona.
A burn pile in Blue Grass, Iowa got out of control and burned around 15 acres of land. The fire came just feet from Jean Miller’s home, where she was with her 2 grandchildren at the time.
“I was so nervous when I looked out the window and saw these flames. They were pretty tall, at least 3 feet,” Miller says.
Blue Grass, Buffalo and Montpelier Fire Departments all responded to the fire. It took the crews nearly an hour to control the blaze that also damaged a small shed.
Around the same time, Colona Fire Fighters responded to a brush fire along Interstate 74 after a farmers’ burn pile in a nearby ditch spread quickly. It caught acres of land on fire and sent heavy clouds of smoke across the interstate.
Colona Fire Chief, John Swan told us the smoke was their major concern. He also said a little wind mixed with dry weather is what caused this fire to spread.
“We haven’t had very much snow this year so we don’t have a lot of moisture in the ground. Everything is really dry right now.”
Both fires were put out before anyone was hurt.
