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A failed bearing in a baler sparked a two-alarm grass fire outside of Lebanon on Saturday evening. The Lebanon Fire District was dispatched for a car fire near Highway 34 and Red Bridge Road at 5:35 p.m. While en route to the scene the Lebanon Battalion Chief could see that the fire was not on the highway but deep in a farmer’s field and he immediately upgraded the call to a first alarm to bring more firefighting resources from all Lebanon stations.
Upon arrival crews found a large tractor and baler surrounded by fire in a wind rowed field. The fire was approximately half an acre in size, but gusty winds and a large amount of unburned fuel around the fire led to the Incident Commander to call for a second alarm to bring additional resources from neighboring departments. Firefighters from Tangent, Albany, and Scio responded to the scene while mutual aid crews from Scio, Brownsville, and Sweet Home responded to Lebanon to cover the district.
Crews quickly worked to attack the flanks of the fire as it moved south towards Highway 20, pushed by 10-15 mph winds. Once the fire was flanked, the head of the fire was extinguished and an extensive mop-up and overhaul operation began. Fire crews limited the damage to just 1.2 acres of burn and were able to protect the tractor from any major damage. The baler received more fire damage and will likely need to be rebuilt. The property is owned by Mike Hayes and Chris Horton was farming it with his crews and equipment. Horton estimated the combined value of the tractor and baler at $270,000.
Crews were on scene for close to 3 hours mopping up hot spots and ensuring that the baler fire was completely extinguished. There were no civilian injuries and one firefighter suffered mild heat exhaustion but was treated on scene and returned to duty.
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