High winds and smoldering manure contributed to a hay fire that claimed a tractor and horse trailer as well as 300 bales of hay on County Road G Thursday afternoon, said Cortez Fire Marshal Frank Cavaliere.

"There had been a manure pile that had been smoldering for a couple of days and because the winds were really high, it had blown some sparks into the hay pile," Cavaliere said.

The manure pile located on the property of John Tomac at 12202 County Road G had been burning for a couple of days but it is unknown whether or not the fire had been intentional, Cavaliere said.

One fire engine, four tankers and 12 firefighters responded to the fire Thursday afternoon and a smaller crew was briefly called out to extinguish the fire a second time on Friday morning.

"That’s not unusual when you have large hay piles because you’ve got to get out every single little ember," Cavaliere said. "It had flared up again, so they went back out."

In addition to the tractor, hay and horse trailer, a utility trailer and a spreader containing fertilizer were scorched but not engulfed. The fertilizer did not catch but was a concern, Cavaliere said.

"Whenever there’s a fertilizer spreader we just want to make sure that we find out what kind it is and how it will react with fire and water. Also, if there’s going to be any runoff from the water, we want to contain it so it doesn’t contaminate anything else."

The cost of the damage had not been determined Friday.

Also threatened by the fire was a garage complex and an unknown number of vehicles. The main house was not in any danger, Cavaliere said. "It wasn’t anywhere close. The house was a couple of acres away."

With 8,750 gallons of water imported and easy access to an irrigation ditch running close by, the fire was under control within half an hour, Cavaliere said.

"We had a tanker shuttle that would come dump water and go back (to the ditch) and refill. Once we got the water shuttle set up we really never had a water problem."