17 Departments Take Part In Controlled Burn

Sully, Iowa – There were 17 departments in Sully, Iowa, on Saturday, August 21st, 2021, as the Key Co-op controlled burn of some no longer needed buildings took place.

Sully Fire Chief Mike Vander Molen said that 124 people signed in to help. Besides the 17 fire departments, which included New Sharon and Barnes City, Mahaska County Cert, and the Jasper and Poweshiek County EMA were also on hand.

Eight hundred ninety-seven thousand gallons of water were used in total. In addition, four hundred fifty thousand gallons came from a nearby pond, including one fish that made the over one mile trip to the holding tanks.

Three hundred thirty-nine thousand gallons were trucked from a pond 5 miles away. That was made possible with the assistance of 8 farmer tractor-tankers. One hundred eight thousand gallons of water was also used from the city itself.

The main building, a grain elevator, was constructed in 1955 and would hold seventy thousand bushels of grain.