Orscheln hay bale fire ‘could have been much worse’

o asst manager wide — Orscheln Home and Farm assistant manager Shelly Whitman and other employees inspect the damage.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

By the time an Orscheln Home and Farm Store employee grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran out the front door to put out a hay bale fire, she knew it was too late. Another employee called 9-1-1 shortly after 2 p.m. Friday as the flames started shooting up and towards an adjacent rack of filled propane bottles.

Several trucks from the Hays Fire Department responded, as Hays Police evacuated employees and customers from the store. Ellis County EMS waited in the parking lot.

Hays firefighters responded to a hay bale fire near the entrance of Orscheln early Friday afternoon. — Hays firefighters responded to a hay bale fire near the entrance of Orscheln, 2900 Broadway, early Friday afternoon.

“There was no damage to the building,” according to HFD Captain Aaron Ditter at the scene. “The fire origin is indeterminate at this time, although we do know it started on the top of the bales.”

“A guy came into the store and told us about the fire,” said Orscheln assistant store manager Shelly Wittman. “There were nine hay bales stacked in front of the building next to some stacks of bird seed. They’re all burned.”

After the all clear, employees and customers are allowed back inside. — After the all clear, employees and customers are allowed back inside by Hays police.

As Wittman and other employees inspected the burned remains, she discovered some of the plastic portions on the lawn sweeps along the store wall had melted.

“It still could have been a lot worse,” said Wittman.

“The fire department was really concerned about those propane tanks. We were really lucky.”