Wind a concern for firefighters battling a hay fire in southern Colorado

Battling a hay fire with windy conditions takes patience.

Firefighters from Cheraw and La Junta have been battling a haystack fire since 11 p.m. Thursday.

A cause has not been determined, but La Junta Fire Capt. Joey Gacnik said spontaneous combustion is a possibility, since that is common for hay bales when they get stacked wet or if the rain hits it.

Gacnik said battling a haystack fire with wind takes time to monitor and extinguish.

“Our shift is to try and mitigate the hazard, which is ash and ember on other haystacks. We want to try and mitigate it at this point more than extinguish,” he said.

Hansen Cattle Incorporated said it owns the haystacks, and about 600 tons of hay was burned. It also said it lost about $60,000 in hay.