Hay baler destroyed in farm fire

Nobody was injured Tuesday afternoon after a fire destroyed a hay baler along with around two acres of pasture off Arnold Road located near Rolling Hills. Jennifer Muzzall Jones, a co-owner of 3 Sisters Beef, was driving a tractor that was towing a hay baler. She was baling the second-to-the-last row of the field when she looked back and noticed a problem with the baler. “There’s flames coming down the front of it,” Muzzall Jones said.

Nobody was injured Tuesday afternoon after a fire destroyed a hay baler along with around two acres of pasture off Arnold Road located near Rolling Hills.

Jennifer Muzzall Jones, a co-owner of 3 Sisters Beef, was driving a tractor that was towing a hay baler. She was baling the second-to-the-last row of the field when she looked back and noticed a problem with the baler.

“There’s flames coming down the front of it,” Muzzall Jones said.

She managed to unhook the flaming baler and drive the tractor to safety.

“Things went really fast,” Muzzall Jones said. The baler was filled with a bale of straw, which is highly flammable along with the stubble remaining in the field.

She said about two acres of land was scorched by the fire.

Firefighters from North Whidbey Fire and Rescue extinguished the blaze that was reported at 3:30 p.m.

Muzzall Jones said the fire destroyed the baler and she is looking for a replacement, which could cost $30,000.

She said a neighbor loaned the family a baler to finish harvesting.