Lightning-struck tree calls out IVFD

    Firefighters from Imperial were on the scene of a tree fire June 2 after it was struck by lightning during an evening storm.
    Fire Chief Doug Mitchell said the top of the tree was burning just off Highway 6, about six miles west of Imperial and half a mile north on the former Averill Hudnall place.
    Firefighters had to clear a path to the tree that was in with a lot of others, Mitchell said. They pulled the tree down with a chain and tow rope in order to get at the fire burning inside of it.
    No other damage occurred he said. The call came in about 6:15 p.m. last Tuesday.
No burn permits
    Even with the rain that fell Tuesday, Mitchell said it’s unlikely he’ll be issuing any burn permits for awhile due to the dry conditions that exist.
    The recent dryness, exacerbated with the weekend high winds, had Mitchell concerned.
    “It would not have been good,” he said, if a fire had erupted sometime over the weekend.