The structure was holding 350,000 bu of corn at the time the blaze started, officials said.
Fire crews worked for five days to extinguish a stubborn blaze ignited in a grain storage building at the Farmers Elevator and Exchange grain elevator in Wapello, IA, according to local fire officials.
The fire started at 12:50 p.m. on December 29 in the site’s flat grain storage building, prompting a response from firefighters, Wapello Fire and Rescue said in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
“Crews were able to ascertain that the building, an approximately 140 ft x 200 ft concrete and steel storage building, contained approximately 350,000 bu of corn,” the fire department said. “The building contained heavy smoke and additional fire was discovered closer to the east end of the building as well.”
Stanley Staats walks Dec, 3 at his farm in rural Wapello. Staats has filed several complaints about dicamba damage with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The state fined a local elevator $1,000 for dicamba damage to Staats’ chestnut trees. His was the only complaint filed in 2018 that led to a fine. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Stanley Staats works Dec. 3 on his computer in his home in rural Wapello. Continued drift of weedkillers, including dicamba and glyphosate, has killed dozens of trees in the 700-tree chestnut grove he planted 30 years ago. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)
Trees show damage to their branches in a grove at a chestnut farm belonging to Stanley Staats in rural Wapello. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)