Two weekend grass fires sent members of the Elgin Volunteer Fire Department (EVFD) on the go this weekend. Fortunately neither occurred during high winds so they were quickly contained.
On Saturday, the department was called out at 2:45 p.m. to a grass fire 3 miles south and 6 west of Elgin near the Richard Uhrenholdt home. From evidence at the site, the fire began in the ditch then spread into a tree line. Crew members spent a couple of hours extinguishing the fire and burying some trees. According to Fire Chief Jim Kittelson, the exact cause of the fire is unknown.
On Sunday, EVFD members were called to a minor grass fire at 10:34 a.m. located 6 miles west of Elgin. Again, the fire was located in the ditch. It took crews less than one-half an hour to contain and extinguish the fire. According to Kittelson, it looks like a faulty transformer may be the source of the fire.
At 8:46 p.m. on Tuesday, October 9, the department was called to a fire located at the City dump. They spent 2 hours putting out the blaze and then covering up trees that ignited. Kittelson said that spontaneous combustion is the likely culprit in the fire.
