15 fire departments from 3 counties responded to hay and straw pile fires north of Lake Park; site expected to smolder for weeks, officials say

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – Members of more than 15 lakes area fire departments battled through the night to control a large hay bale and straw fire about 10 miles north of Lake Park on Wednesday.

On Nov. 15 at 12:22 p.m., emergency dispatchers received a report of multiple hay piles on fire at a property on County Road 9, south of County Road 14.

The Lake Park Fire Department was dispatched to the scene, and then through a call for mutual aid, were joined by members from 14 different fire departments from Becker, Otter Tail and Clay Counties.

Lake Park Fire Chief Dave Coufal said when they arrived to the scene the discovered they had three large piles of hay and straw on fire and were going to need help in bringing the fire under control.

“When we rolled up on scene, we basically came upon a hay and straw bale fire,” said Coufal. “And just to give you an example of the size and magnitude of this, the largest pile was right around 100 feet wide, and between 800 to 1,000 feet long and, basically, 30 feet high. And that was the largest pile and there were three of them on fire when we arrived. So we had a battle on our hands right away.”

The fire teams dumped more than 1 million gallons of water on the onto the fire and other nearby piles of hay in less than 24 hours to prevent the spread of the fire.

Then, after they were able to cool a path in the hay, Coufal said they utilized heavy machinery to spread and break up the piles, so they’d be easier to control.

“We basically doused them with water so we could get equipment up close to them and once we started doing that, we started tearing the piles apart,” said Coufal. “Pushing them off and spreading them out and wetting it down as much as we could. And just a note on this, that this is going to smolder for weeks, if not more.”

Coufal and his fire crew was still on scene, cleaning up, after more than 22 hours since the fire was first called away. He also praised the hard work of his team and all of the other departments who came together help.

“We do what we’re trained to do and I’m pretty proud of everybody,” he said. “Usually, you are used to dealing with just your department and now, you’re dealing with 15 different departments and seeing how well everybody reacts together and works together, and gets this job done. It’s pretty remarkable.”

Coufal reiterated the scene will continue to smolder for the several weeks.

Members of the Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office are also on-scene to assist with the investigation as to the cause of the fire.

The Lake Park Fire Department was assisted by other departments from: Audubon, Callaway, Hawley, Hitterdal, Detroit Lakes, Frazee, Glyndon, Carsonville, Vergas, Pelican Rapids, Perham, Wolf Lake, Ogema and the MN DNR. Also assisting at the scene were: Lake Park Police Department, Lake Park ALERT, Essentia Health St. Mary’s EMS, Becker County Sheriff’s Office and Becker County Emergency Management.

Several private contractors, as well as, a neighbor provided equipment and food for those assisting at the scene.