Ames Fire Department and crews contained a fire at the Iowa State University Dairy Barn early Friday morning.

The fire involved hay and began at approximately 2:20 a.m., according to Shift Commander Dave Folkmann. 

The Ames Fire Department showed up within 5 minutes.

“I believe they had it contained within a couple of hours, but it smoldered for a long time,” Folkmann said. “We cleared at about 10 [a.m.] this morning.”

Iowa State Staff used heavy equipment to remove bales in order to give fire crews a clean shot at the burning hay inside. The cause of the fire is undetermined.

Smoldering continued well into the day, according to Rusty Burgett of the Department of Animal Science.

Burgett was on-site and monitoring the situation.

“We’re just trying to make sure we don’t have big flare-ups, and keeping everybody safe,” Burgett said.

Aside from the hay, nothing else was damaged.

The Ames Fire Department received assistance from Kelley / West Story Fire Association, Huxley Fire Rescue and Slater Fire Department.