Chester FD responds to track hoe fire

<span>CHESTER -- Firefighters responded to the report of a machine on fire in a field north of Chester on Thursday and arrived to find a 2012 Caterpillar track hoe, and a portion of the field it was in, in flames.</span>

<span>According to Chester Fire Chief Marty Bert, the machine's operator - John Kloth of Chester - was working a nearby burning brush pile on field K-10, located along Route 3 roughly two miles north of the city.</span>

<span>Kloth also owns the property.</span>

<span>"The operator said he was using the equipment a couple of hundred yards away on a brush pile," Bert said. "He moved to another part of the property and noticed smoke coming up into the cab.</span>

<span>"He was able to get out of the cab and tried to put the bucket down and couldn't put the bucket down. After he got out of the cab, (the machine) went up pretty quick."</span>

<span>Bert said the fire then spread to the field, but was quickly extinguished once firefighters arrived.</span>

<span>"We were able to pull up with our 1912, our engine, and use our deck gun to put the fire out," he said.</span>

<span>Firefighters were paged out at 10:44 a.m. and remained on-scene for about an hour.</span>