Hurdland Hay Fire “Suspicious”

Hurdland Hay Bale Fire - 96 Hay Bales, at the Campbell farm in northeast Hurdland, caught fire on Wednesday, August 22, 2012. The cause of the fire is undetermined, but Sheriff Kite has deemed it suspicious. The bales continued to smolder for several days.

By Echo Menges

On Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at approximately 9:30 a.m. the Knox County and Hurdland Volunteer Fire Departments and the Knox County Sheriff responded to a fire at the Kenneth and Betty Campbell Farm in Hurdland. The fire was contained to a field where hay was being stored. The Campbell farm lost a total of 96 big round bales of hay in the fire.
“We wanted a State Fire Marshall called,” said Betty Campbell. “There’s no way that it was spontaneous combustion. That hay has been sitting there too long for it to be spontaneous combustion. Either somebody set it intentionally or it was a cigarette butt.”
According to Campbell the family has cattle and needed that hay to get through the winter.
“We have a lot of cattle. What we bailed this year was short from last year. We had to buy 106 bales to get through the year and now 96 of them are gone,” said Campbell.
“We investigated it to determine if it was arson. Unfortunately there’s no evidence to determine the cause, but it’s suspicious,” said Sheriff Mike Kite.
Anyone with information pertaining to the cause of the fire should contact the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.