Sanborn Fire Department responds to truck contacting power line
At approximately 9:30 a.m. on April 6, the Sanborn Fire Department was called to 340th Street and Redwood Ave. southwest of Sanborn for a truck that had come in contact with a power line.
Upon their arrival, the firefighters found that a feed truck owned by Hartog Elevator had delivered feed to a hog barn and when the driver left the yard he did not put the auger tube back in the cradle for transport. When he turned on to 340th Street from Redwood Ave. the auger struck the power line across Redwood. This caused the truck to short the power line and send an electrical surge through the truck to ground causing the truck to start on fire.
The driver was able to exit the vehicle safely.
When the firefighters arrived on scene, the auger was starting to settle away from the power line so the electrical danger was gone and they could put out the truck fire. It was found after investigation that the electrical arc went from the auger all the way through the truck and went to ground through the right front tire. The seven firefighters were on scene for an hour and a half and used about 500 gallons of water. Sanborn Fire Department was assisted by the O’Brien County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol, Sanborn Police Department and by North West REC, which owns the line that was hit.