KERKHOVEN -- Firefighters from five area fire departments scrambled around noon Thursday after a fire roared across acres of Conservation Reserve Program land just east of Kerkhoven.
The fire spread quickly according to witnesses and authorities, threatening nearby houses and a herd of grazing cattle. Beginning just west of the 400 block of North Third Street near the Kerkhoven water treatment facility, the fire fanned southeast toward U.S. Highway 12, said Capt. Kelly Hauge of the Kerkhoven Fire Department.
Two boys -- a 7-year-old and 8-year-old -- are said to have started the fire while playing with a lighter.
After the initial call, Hauge said firefighters rushed to the Third Street neighborhood, which borders the CRP land to the west. "We concentrated on the homes right away," he said. Although all the homes were spared, the fire burned up to the backyards of some of the houses along the street. Thick plumes of white smoke could be seen from Pennock as the fire smoldered.
Arlene Freetly, whose property borders the CRP land, said the fire moved fast when it started. After noticing the fire, Freetly rushed to rescue her grandchildren from down the block.
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The children were home alone because of school conferences and didn't see the fire coming, she said.
Firefighters hosed down the last burning bail of hay around 1:30 p.m. Huddled behind Freetly Electric along Third Street, Kerkhoven, Pennock, Murdock, De Graff and Benson personnel came out of the field covered in black mud and soot.
"It's a hard fire to fight," Hauge said.
Shortly after the fire was extinguished, Kerkhoven Fire Chief Mark Lesteberg was informed that two children had started the fire. "Playin' with a lighter," he said.
Swift County Sheriff Scott Mattison said the parents of the boys called in the fire and were cooperating with authorities. The two children allegedly found the lighter in their home and used it to start the grass on fire at the north end of Third Street.
Charges are not expected against to be filed against the boys.
"You can't charge a 7- or 8-year-old with a crime," Mattison said, adding that the parents will most likely end up footing the bill from the fire departments.
Mattison also breathed a sigh of relief, commenting on how destructive the fire could have been if the wind had been stronger or from a different direction. "(We're) very fortunate though," he said.
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As tankers were refilled with water at the corner of Third Street and Idaho Avenue around 2 p.m., firefighters prepared to battle another blaze. Lesteberg said they were going to burn off the rest of the dry CRP grasses for safety reasons while firemen were available.
