Cob fire north of Shelton extinguished

Regional News

Buffalo county, location of Shelton

Volunteer firefighters from Shelton and Gibbon responded to a smoky fire Wednesday at about 7 p.m. in an estimated 800-tons of corn cobs at Gangwish Seed Farm Incorporated north of Shelton. Randy Gangwish says part of the the cob pile caught on fire and firefighters soaked the cobs to put it out. Gangwish says the Behlen building containing the cobs, a 100-ft. quonset, may have sustained some heat damage. He says he will need to have an expert look at the building to determine whether the blaze caused structural damage. Gangwish says he hasn't determined how much of the corn cobs were damaged. Shelton Fire Chief Mark Lovelace says the fire appears to have started at the top of the pile, but there's been no determination of what caused it. Lovelace says a Shelton firefighter operating a front-end loader was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and released. There were no other injuries. The fire was noticed when a neighbor spotted smoke coming from the building. Firefighters remained at the scene past 1:00 a.m. Thursday. Shelton firefighters returned to the scene Thursday morning at 7:30 to put out hot spots. The cause of the fire is under investigation.