Crews respond to grain bin fire

BELDEN - A dozen Randolph volunteer firefighters joined a crew from Belden to put out a fire at a grain bin last week.

Assistant Fire Chief Brent Billerbeck said the call came in around 7:30 a.m. Thursday to a farmer-owned 250,000-bushel grain bin north of Belden.

Belden had already set up at the scene when Randolph crews arrived.

The local fire crews sought advice from a Texas specialist who happened to be in O’Neill and also the Nebraska Fire Marshal who was also in the Norfolk area.

Two large holes were cut in the bin to pump water into and extinguish smoldering grain, Billerbeck said.

“It was a learning experience for all of us,” he said. The cause of the fire is unknown but thought to have been caused from unloading an auger the previous day, Billerbeck said.

Along with personnel, the Randolph fire department brought six trucks and an ambulance to the scene.