The Yankton Fire Department spent three hours early Thursday morning combating a large hay bale fire north of Yankton.
Yankton Assistant Fire Chief Larry Nickels says that a off-duty out of town firefighter was passing by on Highway 81 near the old Yankton Livestock Auction, now home to the Vet Shack, when he reported the fire. The fire was reported just after 2:00 AM.
Nickels says that crews moved the good hay bales from the burning ones with multiple payloaders so that the fire didn’t spread even more. He adds that approximately 125 older hay bales were lost in the fire.
Nickels suspects that the fire was caused by a lightning strike Wednesday evening.
The hay bales were allowed to smolder throughout the day Thursday.
