BLOOMINGTON – Monroe Fire Protection District was dispatched to Friendship Rd and E State Rd 46 shortly
after 2 pm Thursday afternoon for a field fire.
As crews were responding to the call, dispatch advised the fire was possibly two football
fields long and involved a vehicle that might be on fire too.
Units arrived to find approximately two acres on fire with a vehicle out in the field, but not on fire.
Firefighters worked to get ahead of the fire as the wind picked up a little spreading the
fire across the tall dried-out top grass.
Brush trucks attempted to get into the field and move to the head of the fire, but the ground was soft and muddy underneath the dry grass causing the trucks to get stuck. Firefighters worked to contain the fire with hand
tools, leaf blowers, water packs, and two long hose lines off engines that were parked
on the road.
It took about forty-five minutes to get the fire contained. Once the fire spread was stopped firefighters went back and extinguished any remaining hot spots.
The truck that was out in the field was the cause of the fire. It had gotten stuck in the mud and the hot motor caught the dead grass on fire around the truck.
Monroe Fire District was assisted on the scene by Bloomington City Fire Engine 4, and
IU Health Ambulance Services.
