Tyrone Fire Chief Billy Godwin talks with property owner Marvin McAvoy as fire fighters from all over the county work to control a large hay fire Monday night.
Fire destroyed a full hay barn on Happy Hollow Road Monday night, and nearly every Wilkes County fire station took part in getting water to contain the blaze.
Property owner Marvin McAvoy estimated that he lost 300 round bales of hay and 1,000 square bales to the fire. He said that a worker on the property reported that he first saw the fire at the top and center of the open-sided barn, leading McAvoy to believe that the fire was spontaneous combustion that is a common problem with stored hay.
The fire was reported around 11 p.m. Monday, with the Tyrone Volunteer Fire Department in the lead. Chief Billy Godwin took command at the scene and soon called in help from Rayle Fire Department along with tanker support from several volunteer fire departments around the county.
Pump and dump: Tanker 4 from Rocky Creek pumps water into a temporary water bunker allowing Washington's Engine 5 to pump it out and keep a stream of water on the hay fire.
After midnight, the property owner and the fire chief agreed that the fire was too deep in the hay to extinguish. Firefighters were told to let it burn itself out but keep any flames or sparks from spreading. The fire was still smoldering Tuesday afternoon.
The fire gave county fire fighters an opportunity to put practice into action, setting up two pump-and dump operations at the scene as they had done in a recent drill in Washington. Tyrone's Engine 6 set up a station at the front of the blaze, and Washington's Engine 5 set up a station at the rear. Tanker 7 from Rayle, Tanker 4 from Rocky Creek, Tanker 5 from Washington, Tanker 9 and Knocker 9 from Tignall, and Tanker 8 from Metasville all made possible the shuttle of water from the nearest hydrant.
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