CORRECTION: Whitman County Fire District 4 out of Palouse did not respond.
A grain elevator storing 100,000 bushels of wheat was destroyed by fire Tuesday in Western Whitman County.
The Knott Elevator in Winona caught fire around 1:00 in the afternoon. By the time volunteers arrived from Whitman County Fire District 6 out of Endicott the fire had already broken through the roof. The fire also threatened a train engine with 3 cars that was parked next to the elevator. An engineer arrived and moved the train which was not damaged by the flames.
Volunteers from Whitman County Fire District 8 from LaCrosse, District 2 from St. John, District 11 from Colfax responded as well. Water trucks from Wilbur-Ellis and the McGregor Company also assisted.
The volunteers put out several spot fires that erupted in Conservation Reserve Program ground East of the blaze. High winds out of the West fueled the inferno. No one was hurt. No word on what caused the fire.
Volunteers will be on scene through the night and likely longer as the blaze is expected to smolder for several days. The wood crib constructed elevator was about 3 quarters full.
