14 January, 2022
Fire causes losses for Nobby farmers
In two separate incidents, two farmers west of Nobby sustained serious losses after stacks of hay bales caught fire during the holiday break.
The first blaze broke out on Peter Mengel’s property on Doolan Road on New Year’s Eve.
Mr Mengel noticed smoke emitting from the stack of large rectangular bales shortly after 5am.
He called for assistance and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services despatched urban and rural fire units to the scene.
This included urban units from Clifton and Allora as well as crews from Nobby and Cambooya Rural Fire Brigades.
There were between six and eight crews on the ground at the fire at various times during the day.
Police were also called to the scene and an ambulance paramedic from Clifton was on stand-by on the property.
Clifton fire captain Simon Wilshire said 140 large rectangular bales of hay were destroyed as a result of the blaze.
An International truck, which had been parked beside the stack was also destroyed.
A hay mower-conditioner sustained damage.
A forklift was used to dismantle the stack to enable firefighters to gain access to the smouldering bales throughout the day.
Mr Wilshire said it is thought the cause of the fire was spontaneous combustion, which is a common cause of fire in hay stacks during warmer months.
Earlier that day, a stack of large hay bales caught fire on a property at Felton East.
This stack was close to a larger stack in the same paddock, however the larger stack did not catch fire.
Another large stack of hay bales caught fire on Thursday of last week.
The hay was owned by Peter Mengel’s brother, Ash Mengel, and was on a property on Langsdorf Road.
This involved 191 bales of hay and again, urban and rural fire crews were despatched.
The hay was destroyed.
Ash Mengel estimated his loss to be in excess of $30,000.
