A combine in rural Odin and another in rural Patoka were involved in fires on Saturday.
Odin Fire Chief Greg Smith says Maurice Weigman was shelling corn in a field off the 3600 block of Hoots Chapel Road north of Odin when a bearing appears to have gone bad on the header and caught fire. The header was disconnected from the rest of the combine to keep the fire from spreading. The only damage was to the header and a small area of the field around it. The fire call came in at 11:11 Saturday morning. Firemen were on the scene for about 50 minutes. Salem Firemen were called for mutual aid, but were not needed because the fire did not spread beyond the header of the combine.
Patoka Fire Chief Blake Hyde reports a combine heavily damaged in an October 9th fire caught fire again on Saturday. The combine had been moved closer to the road at Vermundy and Farthing Roads since the initial fire. Hyde says a battery may have shorted out. Remnants of a tire were on fire. The call came in at 12:18 Saturday afternoon, with firemen on the scene for about an hour. Sandoval Fire responded with automatic mutual aid.
