Centralia Fire Protection District Chief Ross Boshera says a hay baler being pulled behind a tractor east of Walnut Hill caught fire in a wheat stubble field and was destroyed.
The baler was owned by Jeff Sledge of Mt. Vernon. Boshera says it appears to have experienced a mechanical problem. The partial bale of hay that was in the bailer was dumped into a pond to keep the fire from spreading. The tractor was unhooked and driven away from the fire.
The hay baler was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived on the scene around 2:30 Friday afternoon.
Earlier on Friday afternoon, Centralia District Firemen were called to a car fire on Gilmore Street in Wamac. The fire was already out on the fire department’s arrival.
There were no injuries in either fire.
