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ADAIR COUNTY -- Another fire provides more evidence of just how bone dry it is out there.

Approximately 200 hay bales went up in flames Friday afternoon.

The fire was reported shortly after 2:30 p.m. southwest of Kirksville.

The bales were lined up in rows along Pinkerton Cemetery Trail a half-mile west of Route K.

They were owned by the Barbara Smith family.

A number of area fire departments responded to the scene.

The blaze also charred a small area of grass surrounding the bales.

An Adair County ambulance was on scene just in case a firefighter got injured or overheated in the sweltering conditions.

The cause of the fire is unknown, but members of the Smith family told KTVO they don’t believe spontaneous combustion is to blame because some of the bales had been there since last year and the rest had been there since mid-June.

It took nearly 12 hours for crews to fully extinguish all of the bales.

According to firefighter Bradley Ray, crews were on the scene until 2 a.m. Saturday making sure the fire was completely put out.

KTVO Viewer Lisa L. Whittom sent us the following e-mail letting us know who should get a lot of the credit for assisting firefighters. "Donnie Yantis, of Yantis Bulldozing & Excavating, used his track hoe to pile the hay bales up and get them to burn hotter and faster, actually saving the firefighters of Novinger, Novinger Northern, and Brashear many hours of manual labor." stated Whittom in her e-mail.