One fire spanned about 35 acres of a cornfield, according to Stratford Fire Chief Dan Ostrem. It was reported at about 12:45 a.m. near the intersection of 380th Street and Stagecoach Road.

“It started from the corn head of a combine,” he said. “It had crossed the fence line and was into another standing cornfield, but it got stopped before it crossed the road.”

Firefighters from seven departments responded including Stratford, Stanhope, Dayton, Harcourt, Webster CIty, Jewell and Boone.

No injuries were reported. The combine had minor damage to the head, Ostrem said.

Firefighters remained on scene for about three hours.

“It was a mess,” Ostrem said.

Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Boone County Sheriff’s Office, Webster County emergency management and Hamilton County emergency management also responded.

In Otho, three fire departments quickly converged on 2574 Lainson Avenue in the afternoon to put out a field fire.

Moorland and Otho Fire Departments were called to the scene around 2:25 p.m. Callender Fire Department was paged for assistance five minutes later.

Otho Fire Chief Marty Smith said it took about 30 to 45 minutes to put the blaze out, thanks to local farmers and tilers who tilled the ground around to make breaks that stopped the spread.

The extent of the spread was several hundred yards of standing corn and the ditch along Lainson Avenue, he said. Smoke blowing across the road temporarily blinded drivers, prompting authorities to block traffic on the road.

Smith said the fire was likely started by sparks from a combine.

The fire was the second one in the Otho area put out that day — Smith said another smaller field fire was put out earlier Thursday morning south of Otho at 280th Street and Lainson Avenue.

On Thursday night, another field fire was reported at 3355 180th St. in Calhoun County. Clare firefighters were called for manpower and water.

A burn ban will remain in effect for Webster County until further notice due to extremely dry conditions, according to Dylan Hagan, Webster County emergency management coordinator.

“Several fires recently are due to equipment issues in the field, but we have had a couple fires recently due to people burning,” Hagan said. “I want to thank the farmers that have taken time to assist our fire departments. Without their help, a lot of the these fires would have spread much quicker and become a bigger problem.”