Fire Wednesday morning at Gold-Eagle Co-op in Clarion

With a bang heard early Wednesday morning, the Gold Eagle Cooperative's grain elevator on Madison Avenue in Clarion lit ablaze from a mechanical housing atop the elevator. Crews responded immediately, working in close proximity to the fire and at harrowing heights.

"The call came out about 8:20," said Sheriff Jason Schluttenhofer on the scene. "We came out and shut the section down, and the Clarion Fire Department was able to get the fire out on top of the leg of the elevator grain bin."

"I believe it was the auger on fire," Clarion Chief of Police Steve TerHark said. "So we dispatched the fire department and they came here and looked at it, and then they went up there. It's out now, which is good."

Although traffic and pedestrians, including kids on their way to school, were routed away from Madison Ave for about half an hour as a precaution, the road was open again shortly after 9 am.

Check next week’s Monitor for more on this story.