Second Call In Week Results In Total Loss Of Combine

All photos taken during the fire courtesy of Brian Ferguson.

It’s been a rough week for an Orchard farmer, who called the fire department twice for issues on the same combine.

The John Deere combine, owned by Alan Leiding—who lives northwest of Orchard—was a total loss and was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived on scene, according to Orchard Fire Chief Duane Risinger.

“(The fire) probably burned up about an acre of corn field,” Risinger said after returning to the Orchard Fire Hall early Friday afternoon. 

According to Risinger, the fire “looked pretty hopeless,” but with the help of Ewing and Royal it was controlled quickly. The call came in at about 1:10 p.m. and trucks were back in Orchard by 2:45 p.m.

“It didn’t burn up the whole cornfield, and it was trying to,” explained Risinger. “It was engulfed a long ways up the road.”

Leiding said the driver, a friend helping with harvest, made it out of the combine safely. 

Five firefighters from Orchard responded, along with six from Ewing and seven from Royal, Risinger said. 

Leiding said the two calls were unrelated. The first was due to a belt that overheated while the second one is undetermined at this time. ​

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