On Wednesday morning, Sept. 10, West Polk Fire & Rescue responded to a structure fire on Bishop Lane in Benton, with 15 firefighters, 4 engines and 2 tankers. The first firefighter on scene reported that a hay barn was fully involved, with other near-by structures in danger.

The first arriving engine immediately dropped lines and began protecting the equipment barn that was located within three feet of the burning building. Fire Chief Steve Lofty confirmed by radio that this was the best strategy until he and other equipment arrived to assess the situation.

When Lofty arrived he found the structure with 95 percent combustion. It was determined that the best course of action was to continue protecting the surrounding structures that were still standing and condense the area of fire containment. Firefighters worked for hours protecting the equipment barn.

Then, after assuring the structure's safety, the firefighters, with help from Polk County Road Dept., City of Benton Water Dept., TN state Forestry (including Jimmy Brown & Laine Casteel) and Thompson Construction, pushed the 225 burning round bales of hay and barn remains away from the building so they could be allowed to safely burn out.

Firefighters remained on the scene until close to 5 pm, monitoring the fire so it didn't leave the containment area. Several checks were then made throughout the night to make sure the fire didn't get out of control.

Most of the time when hay barns catch on fire, rather than wasting water attempting to extinguish the flames, the best action is to condense the area and let them burn out.

Medtrans, Polk County Sheriff and Benton City police are all thanked for their assistance  with this scene. Fire officials noted that each of these departments plays a critical role in how smoothly a scene runs.

Bradley County Main and Charleston Fire/Rescue Depts. were also thanked for their willingness to stand-by on alert in case any other calls came in while this structure fire was being fought. Etowah Rural was also asked to be on stand-by, but there was a structure fire in their area to be dealt with.

It is with the co-operation of the surrounding counties to assist on calls, that each county's residents are delivered a wider range of services and protection.

WPCFR is completely volunteer. Any West Polk County resident, 18 or older who wishes to join is encouraged to come by the monthly meetings on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. The next meeting will be held at 7:30 pm at Station 1 in Benton near the courthouse on September 16th.

There are many ways to serve with WPCFR; firefighters, rescue/EMT/1st responders, diving, handing out food/drinks to the firefighters during scenes, are just a few examples of the volunteer oportunities.

Any youth (14-21) who is interested in learning more about firefighting/rescue, are invited to join the WPCFR Explorers program.