Mohawk evacuated due to nearby field fire

SYCAMORE — Mohawk High School was evacuated Tuesday afternoon due to a fire in a nearby cornfield. At 12:26 p.m., Sycamore Volunteer Fire and Rescue and the Wyandot County Sheriff's Office were paged and responded to the scene. Sycamore fire chief Rodney Clinger said sparks from a burn barrel blew into the field, igniting corn stubble first, then burning into the standing corn stalks. After the fire was extinguished, an estimated three to five acres of the field was burned. Clinger commented that the "fellows did a really great job," and that he was "really proud of everyone that came to help us in the middle of the day." He later advised that there were a lot of resources used to extinguish the fire, a fire that could have been prevented. "This is a perfect example of why we have burn bans… Because it's been an exceptionally dry fall, the risk of fires is heightened," he said. The fire was estimated to be approximately 60-80 yards from the school, but the choice to evacuate the nearby school was made by the Mohawk resource officer in collaboration with members of the school administration. "The decision to evacuate students was made out of caution for students safety due to smoke," Mohawk superintendent Andrew Sprang said. The students were later able to return to class by approximately 2 p.m. No one was injured. The cause of the fire and the person who started it is still being investigated by the Wyandot County Sheriff's Office.