Firefighters battle field fire, one suffers heat exhaustion

TOWNSEND TWP.

Firefighters from Margaretta, Groton and Townsend fire departments battled high temperatures and a giant field fire Tuesday afternoon.

The fire broke out at 2:58 p.m. off of Southwest Road near the Ohio Turnpike and was contained by about 4 p.m. 

The blaze produced large clouds of smoke that wafted over the turnpike and temporarily stopped traffic.

Margaretta fire Lt. Tom Johnson said the fire was most likely the result of a malfunctioning tractor. 

“It was a large, strong field fire,” Johnson said. “It went relatively well, except for the heat and the wind blowing smoke over the turnpike.”

No injuries were reported and no equipment sustained damage, but one firefighter suffered heat exhaustion, Townsend fire Lt. Brian Schwiefert said.

“Other than that, I think this went really well,” he said. “It was a combined effort, and we got it contained in about an hour, which is typical. All that’s left is cleanup.”

Field fires are much more common during springtime, Schwiefert said, but part of his job is never being surprised.

“It was pretty straightforward, as field fires go,” he said.

Dispatcher Victoria Marksbury said the Erie County Sheriff’s office hasn’t received any calls for field fires since high winds ripped through the area in early April.

“In the spring we had fires all over the place, but we haven’t had anything since then,” she said. “But now that it’s getting dried out, we may have all kinds of fires throughout the summer.”