Three Fires In Under Four Hours Keep Meeker County Crews Busy Saturday Night

(KNSI) — Meeker County fire crews had a busy weekend, including three fires in about three and a half hours Saturday night, two of them in just over a half hour.

The Meeker County Sheriff’s Office says the first call came in at 6:26 p.m. Saturday, October 10th, for a baler on fire in a field in Harvey Township. Litchfield Fire and deputies found the baler fully engulfed, and the flames had spread to the field. The 70-year-old operator and landowner was not hurt. The baler was a total loss, and the tractor pulling it was damaged.

Thirty-three minutes later, at 6:59 p.m., deputies and Litchfield Fire were sent to a combine fire in Forest City Township. The combine, owned by a 30-year-old man from rural Cokato, was fully engulfed. The operator, a 67-year-old man from rural Litchfield, escaped before the fire took hold and was not injured. The combine and its contents were a total loss.

At 9:52 p.m., a neighbor alerted a Dassel Township homeowner that a sauna attached to the outside of the home was on fire. The 39-year-old homeowner was home at the time and was not injured. The sheriff’s office says the preliminary investigation shows the fire spread from the wood-burning stove inside the sauna. The sauna was a total loss. Dassel Fire and Cokato Fire put out the flames before they reached the house.

The weekend’s fire calls started Friday. At 11:30 a.m. October 9th, deputies were called to a combine fire in Kingston Township, where they found a combine owned by a 65-year-old of Kimball fully engulfed. The operator, a 33-year-old Kimball woman, got out without injury. Dassel Fire, assisted by Cokato Fire, put out the flames. The combine and its contents were a total loss.

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