Fire destroys tractor near Blairstown; no one hurt

UPDATE: No one was hurt when a tractor started on fire Tuesday morning on a farm near Blairstown.

Firefighters rushed to 7764 25th Ave. when the fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. Property owner Kevin Coffland said the man who lives on the farm, Barry Werning, was letting the four-wheel drive John Deere warm up before he used it to chisel plow a field.

Werning had just crawled back into the cab when he noticed something was wrong.

“He heard a pop under the hood and fire started rolling out,” Coffland said.

Werning moved a fuel tanker that was sitting nearby, but the flames quickly consumed the tractor. Burning diesel fuel ran down the driveway, and thick black smoke shot into the sky, Coffland said.

“It was so dark you couldn't even see the corn crib,” Coffland said. “This yard light came back on.”

Coffland said there were a couple explosions inside the tractor as the fire burned. The tractor was parked next to a brick corn crib, and the heat charred a small section of the wooden roof before firefighters calmed the flames.

The tractor, which Coffland said wasn't more than five years old, was a total loss. There was little if any damage to the plow.

Fire officials said an exact cause is not yet known.