Fire takes grain toll at Belmont

A fire swept through a wheat field north of Belmont Tuesday afternoon, destroying about 50 acres of wheat and 150 acres of stubble. The blaze began after a welding repair failed on the reel of a combine as a farm hand was harvesting, causing some plastic brackets to melt and drip molten plastic onto the dry stubble.

No farm equipment was damaged and when the crews realized there was a fire, all the equipment was moved onto a nearby fallow field.

“If it hadn’t been for the local firemen, then we would have been in trouble; the wind was blowing a little,” said Cotton Crider. She and husband Steve are leasing the land from the Doneen family.

Two fire trucks from Oakesdale responded to the fire, which began a few minutes after 2 p.m.