Smoke From Hay Fire Fells Four Firefighters Hayden Barn Burns To The Ground In Middle Of The Night

Four firefighters were sent to the hospital early Tuesday after a Hayden, Idaho barn filled with hay burned to the ground in the middle of the night.

Thirty-three firefighters from three departments battled the blaze, which apparently started when the hay spontaneously caught fire, said Wayne Syth, Hayden Lake fire chief.

“I was trying to get some flames knocked down and ran out of air,” said Dan Reach, one of the firefighters who was sent to the hospital from smoke inhalation and exhaustion.

Smoke from the fire was so heavy that residents miles away in Coeur d’Alene called 911 after smelling the odor, Syth said.

The fire destroyed about 60 tons of hay, kept in a metal barn on Lacey Road.

The Hayden Lake Fire Department was called to the fire at William Rosenberger’s property at about 11 p.m. By the time the firefighters arrived the whole building was in flames, Syth said.

“The smoke was thick because it was hay,” Reach said. “It was just like walking into the fields that are burning.”

Reach was trying to fight the flames when his air tank ran out. The acrid smoke seeped in as he was switching to a new bottle.

He said he started getting sick and almost passed out, before he was taken to the hospital.

Two other Hayden Lake firefighters were also taken to the hospital, along with a Coeur d’Alene firefighter. All four were released after several hours of treatment. Both the Coeur d’Alene and Rathdrum fire departments were called to help with the blaze.

The hay caught fire through spontaneous combustion, which sometimes happens when damp, green hay is stacked for storage, Syth said.

“It sits in there and starts generating heat,” he said.

It took firefighters until 4 a.m. to get the blaze under control.

, DataTimes