No injuries were reported from a grain bin fire Monday morning but the fire continued to be an issue firefighters dealt with into the evening.
By 10:30 a.m., the Jefferson Township Fire Department reported to a grain bin fire at Bluegrass Farms of Ohio Inc. on Milledgeville-Jeffersonville Road near the Village of Jeffersonville. After requesting aid from multiple other agencies, Jefferson Township Fire Department learned the fire began after some grain caught fire during work to cut the bin open and drain it.
“We got called out here about a 500,000 bushel grain bin on fire that was about 20 percent full, so around 100,000 bushels,” Jefferson Township Fire Department Chief Aaron Hauer said on Monday afternoon. “They were cutting a hole in the side when it caught fire as they were going to drain the bin. So they cut the hole, it caught fire and worked its way up into the rest of the grain.”
After a few hours the fire department was once again called to the scene of the grain bin fire where Hauer said no change had occurred, the farm was just being safe.
“We are just helping them out now,” Hauer said at about 5 p.m. Monday. “There is still some smoldering going on, we are trying to evacuate the bin itself right now. It will probably be several more hours we will still be out here.”
Among the departments and first responders were Washington Fire Department, Concord-Green Volunteer Fire Department, BPM Joint Fire District, Silver Creek Fire/EMS Department, New Jasper Fire Department, Jeffersonville EMS and Box65.
“We appreciate everybody’s help from throughout the community,” Hauer said. “Thanks to Box65 for keeping us hydrated and giving us something to snack on. And obviously a big thanks to the other fire departments who were able to get water out here and manpower to help.”
Reach Martin Graham at (740) 313-0351 or on Twitter @MartiTheNewsGuy.
