Volunteer Depts. quickly put out fire on Hwy 218

RIVERSIDE — A fire on the median of Highway 218 north of Riverside burned about an acre of grass last week, according to firefighters and police reports.

Nobody was hurt and no property was damaged by the blaze on Thursday, Feb. 29, according Riverside Fire Chief Chad Smothers, who said the flames could have been sparked by any number of things given the region’s ongoing drought.

“It may be a spark from a wheel bearing or brake on a vehicle, it may be something out of the exhaust, or someone throwing out a cigarette or something,” he said. “With as dry as conditions are right now, with the wind, a couple of sparks wouldn’t take much to get some dry material going.”

Smothers estimated the fire’s area at about an acre, spreading hundreds of feet up the road as the resulting smoke forced nearby traffic to slow down with reduced visibility.

With a location squarely between Riverside’s and Hills’ fire protection districts, Smothers said both departments responded to the call promptly. Once on-site, he said crews had the fire under control in roughly five minutes, and completely extinguished in about 10.

The process involved briefly closing a lane on either side of the road to ensure passing cars slowed down and left firefighters with enough space to operate.

“Any time we have something on the interstate, we generally get a second department coming, just so we have an extra set of hands to accomplish whatever the emergency is as quickly as possible,” he said. “Any time we’re out on the highway is very dangerous, with cars going by, especially on the interstate with multiple lanes of traffic.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com