Thirty five to forty large round bales of hay were destroyed in a fire Friday afternoon at the Irv Cornette property at 1781 Idlewild Road, near County H, in the Town of Nasewaupee. Assistant Southern Door Fire Chief Randy Massart says it appears that sparks from a burning barrel without a screen ignited the hay located about 30 feet from buildings. Ten units and more than two dozen firefighters responded to the call which came in at about 12:30PM. More than 40-thousand gallons of water and 15 gallons of foam was needed to extinguish the blaze. Massart said the wind actually worked in the fire department’s favor by pushing the flames away from the nearby buildings. As part of the effort to put out the fire, some department members brought their skidsteers to the site and used them to break up the bales. The crews were back at the station shortly after 4PM. Assistant Chief Massart noted that things at present are dry enough that the fire could have expanded to a much larger area had the conditions been right. He said using a burning barrel without a screen can have serious consequences.
