Cob blaze over
By Debbie Lowe Staff writer Melanie Scott Contributing writer

The eight-day corncob fire at The Andersons on SR25 was extinguished Sunday, but not until after all Carroll County firefighters and their equipment were exhausted from the battle. The fire started in the early morning hours of Dec. 27 and burned and scorched tons of cobs. The cobs were raw product but would have been made into cat litter, laboratory animal bedding and products for agriculture and industrial applications.

According to a press release, The Andersons hired F&K Excavators of Carroll County Saturday to assist with the tear down and relocation of a portion of the corncob pile. That reduced the amount of fuel for the fire, thereby reducing the amount of time the fire burned. Five tanker trucks from the nearby Walton Andersons facility arrived on the scene Saturday. Andersons fire brigades from the Delphi and Maumee, Ohio, facilities assisted in the effort to eliminate the fire.

Carroll County Emergency Management Agency Director Dave McDowell said his office will treat the fire event as a learning opportunity. He said loss documentation would become useful to the community later in the year as grant monies become available at the state and federal levels. He said fire departments and emergency personnel would be able to cite the need for new equipment and technologies.

McDowell praised local fire departments from Carroll and surrounding counties for their response to the fire.

Delphi Tri-Township Fire Chief Dennis Randle said the fire consisted of 17,000 tons of raw cob product when it began. While fighting the massive blaze, firefighters faced high winds, cold temperatures, no sleep and equipment malfunctions.

Randle said the fire was determined to be under control at 1:02 p.m. Saturday, one week after it had begun. He said roughly 46 different fire departments from this part of the state responded to the expressed offers of help.