There were no injuries and minimal damage to equipment and crops after the Rochelle Fire Department was called for a report of a combine fire Monday evening, RFD Chief Dave Sawlsville said.

RFD and the Ogle-Lee Fire Protection District station of Flagg Center responded at 6:27 p.m. Monday to a report of a combine fire at 10749 E. Flagg Road. Sawlsville said the combine’s owner smelled smoke and called first responders.

“The farmer was picking corn and it appeared to be a hot bearing,” Sawlsville said. “Even after we cleared out the corn and sprayed water on it we kept getting a lot of steam back. The farmer pulled the combine out of the field right away. There was minimal damage to the combine and no burnt corn. We sprayed 500-600 gallons of water on the hot part to cool it down. We never saw any flames.”

Sawlsville said the corn head was removed from the combine during RFD’s response to find the root of the issue. The owner shut the combine off and planned to revisit the mechanical issue Tuesday.

With harvest ongoing and dry conditions in the area, Sawlsville said RFD took every precaution Monday night.

“We’ve had four calls in recent weeks with combines that were farming beans,” Sawlsville said. “The conditions are really dry. On Monday there was a six-alarm field fire in Winnebago County. We responded to the Flagg Road call with two engines, a water tender and a brush truck in case it became something bigger.”