Firefighters from three jurisdictions were called to a farm south of Innisfail to put out a big fire that started from an overheated baler and spread to surrounding grass and hay.
Neal Reynolds, whose family farms on six quarters of land 12 kilometres southeast of Innisfail, said his father called him at about 3 p.m. on Sept. 20 that a fire had broken out on their property along Rge. Rd. 283, a kilometre and a half north of Highway 587.
Reynolds said he immediately went to the scene of the blaze while his wife called 911. He said the location of the blaze was where a neighbouring dairy farmer was baling straw that was purchased from his family.
He said it's suspected that a faulty bearing on the baler heated up and by the time it was noticed by the operator the machine caught fire.
“Sometimes people can unhook them and drive away from the baler at least and you don't lose your tractor, but by the time they got on to it the baler was hot already,” said Reynolds, adding fire departments from Bowden, Red Deer County and Innisfail responded to the 911 call. “It is common. Bearings go all the time and when they do go it causes friction and they get hot. And when there is all that dry straw around it will light on fire.”
Cory Gunter-Smith, county fire inspector, said the fire spread around the engulfed machinery in an area of about 200 metres by 200 metres. He said the fire consumed hay, grass and half a dozen bales.
“It was on fire. That was the burn area. We've had bigger,” said Gunter-Smith, adding baler fires are an occasional occupational hazard in the region. “It has been a couple of years since we have had a fire started by a baler but it does happen from time to time.”
Gunter-Smith said it took firefighters about three hours to have the fire under control.
No estimate has been released on the dollar value in damages from the blaze but Reynolds said the baler and tractor were destroyed. There were no reported injuries.
