Firefighters contain hay fire, but expect smoke throughout the week

Firefighters from the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District contained a large hay fire near Oakdale on Tuesday morning, but people in the area may smell smoke for a week.

Crews responded to the fire at Patterson and Crane roads at 5:27 a.m., according to the fire district’s Facebook page.

Arriving units found approximately 900-plus tons of hay on fire or threatened. No structures were involved or threatened, and no injuries were reported.

Firefighters worked with the property owner to separate and extinguish the stack, a news release said.

Stanislaus Consolidated Battalion Chief Rick Bussell expects the involved hay to smolder for at least a week.

Spontaneous combustion is the expected cause of the fire and the fire scene is being returned back to the property owner.

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 9:42 AM with the headline "Firefighters contain hay fire, but expect smoke throughout the week."