Last week’s lightning may have caused hay fire

The Maricopa Fire Department issued a smoke advisory after a hay fire on Cowpath Road near the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway broke out about 2:45 p.m. Friday.

Those in the nearby area, especially anyone with respiratory issues, was advised to say indoors.

“The smoke will probably stick around for a couple of days,” said Brad Pitassi, fire department public information officer.

Although unconfirmed Friday afternoon, Pitassi said fire investigators on scene suspect a lightning storm last week may have caused one of the bales to begin to smolder. Then, with a brisk wind and dry conditions, the smoldering hay was fanned into a fire. 

To keep the flames from catching on to other hay bales, the fire department responded to the fire with an engine, a ladder track and a water tender. 

“There’s not a whole lot we can do to put out these fires,” Pitassi said. “There’s so much fuel and it’s so dense, we can’t get good (water) penetration.”

Pitassi said crews focused on watering down nearby bales to keep them cool and prevent flying embers from igniting them.

“They’re just cooling off the sides of the unburned hay bales,” Pitassi said of the crew responding.

Then, the surrounding bales are broken into smaller chunks that are moved as far away from the main fire as possible.

Once the large fire has burned itself out a bit more, bulldozers are used to break up the remains and any fires or smoldering patches are doused.