A combine fire about 5:30 p.m. Thursday in a field south of Dawson along D Avenue brought a rapid response from firefighters from Dawson and Perry, who quickly controlled the blaze.
The Perry Volunteer Fire Department and Dawson First Responders responded to the incident on D Avenue about one-quarter mile south of 160th Street.
The cause of the fire in the Claas Lexion 740 combine was not immediately known. A common cause of combine fires is straw or chaff build-up during harvesting. Straw and other combustible dust tends to accumulate and be ignited by a variety of causes.
A typical $250,000 self-propelled combine harvester combines the harvesting and threshing operation in one machine. The header shears the grain and feeds it to the grain conveyor. The threshing cylinder, in concert with the separating cylinder, separates the grain from the straw.
The separated grain is stored in the grain tank, and the straw is taken by the straw walkers to the straw spreader, which chops up the straw and sends it out into the field behind the combine.
ThePerryNews.com will update this story as information becomes available.
