Contact with high voltage line cause of sprayer fire

A sprayer caught fire in a field along County Road 400 South north of Huntingburg when one of the spray arms contacted a high voltage line owned by Hoosier Energy.

Huntingburg Fire Department was alerted to the fire at about 1:38 p.m. and when they arrived on scene found the sprayer on fire but still in contact with the high voltage line. According to Huntingburg Chief Donnie Heim, it took them a while to get Hoosier Energy to shut down the 70,000 volt line so they could address the fire.

“We couldn’t really do much until the power was shut off because water and electricity don’t mix very well,” Heim said.

By the time the electricity was shut down so firefighters could address the fire, the sprayer was already basically destroyed, he said.

There were no injuries.

The department shut down the road during the incident due to congestion.

They responded with 13 firefighters and an engine, a tanker and a brush truck. They were on scene for about 2 and half hours. The Dubois County Sheriff’s Office, Dubois REC, and Hoosier Energy assisted.