On Thursday, October 6th, 2022, at 5:27 a.m., Union Township Fire Department was dispatched to a possible grain bin fire in the area of State Route 104 and Swaney Road in Northern Ross County. Workers from Kiewit construction working on the Yellow Bud Solar project became aware of what appeared to be a fire near grain bins in the area of the project.
When emergency crews arrived on scene, it was discovered that a large, vertical grain dryer located on a nearby farm was on fire with heavy smoke and visible flames. Additional resources were requested by the initial responders due to the volume of fire, the work required to bring the blaze under control and the need to bring large amounts of water to the scene.
Crews responded from: Bainbridge Fire Department (Ross County), Concord Township Fire Department (Ross County), Colerain Township Fire Department (Ross County), Deerfield Township Fire Rescue (Ross County), Franklin Township Fire Department (Ross County), Green Township Fire Department (Ross County), Harrison Township Fire Department (Ross County), Scioto Township Fire Department (Ross County), Veteran’s Affairs Fire Department (Ross County, Pic-A-Fay Fire Department (Pickaway County), Pickaway Township Fire Department (Pickaway County and Circleville Fire Department (Pickaway County), with assistance provided by the Ohio Department of transportation, Kiewit construction and Box 65 Scene Support. Over 50 emergency personnel worked over eight hours to bring the flames under control and extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Union Township Fire Chief Tim Grimm would like to thank all departments and individuals that worked on the scene and provided support to the crews battling the fire, citing the tremendous amount of teamwork that was key in bringing the fire to an end.
