By TONY GUERRERO
Hays Post
Heavy rainfall Monday night slowed the Ellis County Fire Department’s response to a hay bale fire.
Ellis County Assistant Fire Chief Lyle Pantle said the department received a call at 8:22 p.m. for the fire south of the 1800 block of Saline River Road.
Pantle said reaching the site was difficult because the muddy field prevented fire trucks from accessing it. At 9:07 p.m., Ellis County Fire Chief Darin Myers radioed from the scene, saying that they expected to be on site for an extended period.
Pantle said lighter pickups were used to transport personnel and tools, including rakes, shovels and pitchforks, to spread out the hay bale since tightly rolled bales can take hours to burn. Additional rainfall also helped extinguish the fire.
Pantle said the official cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, but a lightning strike is suspected. No injuries were reported.
Ellis County Public Works Director Brendan Mackay said the fire department notified them at 10 p.m. about water over Saline River Road, but it had receded by 4 a.m. Tuesday.
No damage was reported as a result of the flooding.
Flash flood warnings were in effect for Ellis and Trego counties from about 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.
SEE RELATED STORY: Welcome rain falls in Hays overnight Monday