First arriving units, including a Fitchburg Police Officer, reported seeing smoke coming from the silo indicating there was active fire, but flames were not visible outside of the silo.
Fitchburg firefighters made access cuts to remove the silage, but the corn was damp and wasn't able to flow freely out of the silo. Fitchburg Department of Public Works brought one of their vac trucks to the scene to assist in removing the silage. Once enough material had been removed, active fire was found in a void space underneath where the silage had been.
Because this address is located in a non-hydranted area of the City, the water supply required to extinguish the fire was managed through a water tender operation. This response requires multiple tenders to dump water into a portable tank, which becomes the source of water for the pumper (or engine). Due to the large rural response area within the City of Fitchburg, water tender operations is something the fire department trains on a few times per year.
After 4-1/2 hours, smoke conditions had diminished significantly allowing most of the personnel and apparatus to leave the scene. Some personnel did remain on scene overnight to continue to monitor fire conditions. Additional equipment was brought to the farm on Wednesday morning to finish emptying the silo.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but is not thought to be suspicious in nature. No injuries were reported.
Automatic and Mutual Aid were provided by: FitchRona EMS, Fitchburg Police, Oregon Area Fire & EMS, Town of Madison Fire Department, City of Verona Fire Department, Village of Brooklyn Fire & EMS, Middleton Fire District, and Sun Prairie Fire & Rescue Company. Maple Bluff Fire Rescue Company also provided aid by staffing a Fitchburg Fire Station.