STORY COUNTY, Iowa — The Story County Sheriff’s Office said a combine likely started a large field fire near Nevada Thursday afternoon.

According to a post on the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page, at around 4:15 p.m. the Nevada Fire Department and multiple other fire departments responded to a report of a large field fire just northeast of Nevada.

According to the sheriff’s office, the high winds and dry conditions caused the blaze to spread rapidly and made it difficult for firefighters to control. The flames spread northward, jumping 220th Street just west of 680th Avenue.

The sheriff’s office said the fire appears to have started accidently from a combine while farmers were harvesting a corn field.