A large field fire Thursday afternoon caused five area departments to respond in Leighton Township.

Leighton firefighters were dispatched to the scene just after 5 p.m. First units  arrived in under five minutes and recognized the magnitude of the fire combined with wind gusts at 20 mph and asked for multiple departments to assist. The first arriving engines protected the barns that were within feet of the flames while brush trucks and other responding engines attacked the burning edges.

A spokesperson for the Leighton department said, “We cannot thank everyone enough for the coordinated team effort, including multiple farmers who created a fire break to slow this fire down.”

The estimated burn area is 50 acres, with about a dozen round bales involved.

Allegan County Dispatch, Dorr Township Fire, City of Wayland Fire, Yankee Springs Fire, Thornapple Fire, Wayland area EMS and Dutton Fire all were involved in the effort.