The Wayne Fire Department was called to a field fire 5 miles west and 1.5 miles south of Wayne on Friday afternoon at approximately 3:50 p.m. The cause of the fire at this time is currently unknown.
Six departments provided mutual aid (Winside, Carroll, Wakefield, Hoskins, Wisner, Stanton) and nine tractors and disks also assisted. Northeast Public Power was on scene to provide assistance with electrical concerns and Providence Medical Center was on scene providing care to firefighters.
Winside and Wisner also sent ambulances to be on standby.
According to Wayne Fire Chief Phil Monahan, several firefighters were treated on scene for smoke inhalation.
The Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, Wayne County Emergency Management, and Wayne County Department of Roads and employees provided multiple facets of assistance.
The City of Wayne and Helena Chemical Company provided water to the firefighters. Additional water was pumped from a local irrigation well.
With the high winds the fire traveled approximately two miles and burned approximately 260 acres of field and about 100 hay bales.
The Wayne, Wakefield and Allen-Waterbury fire departments also responded to a field fire on Sunday afternoon.
