Interesting question. I'm not an fire expert, but I can speculate with the best of 'em.
If a burning corn cob, or a clump of corn cobs, rolls off of that pile and starts a field fire, then you have a problem. The field fire could spread to adjacent structures. I don't know what, if any, hazardous materials are stored at The Andersons site, but I'll bet there are tanks of diesel fuel at the least. You really don't want the corn cob fire to spread to surrounding fields or structures.
You could build a dam around the burning pile and fill it with water to contain the fire. However, in this season, the water will freeze, so you haven't gained much.
There may also be air quality concerns. Did you see how tall that pile is? Delphi's ladder truck is dwarfed by the pile. The fire has to be putting off some smoke and particulate matter. Would you want to be downwind of that for as long as it might take to burn out?
By the way, piles of corn cobs are not the only things that spontaneously combust and are then hard to put out. The piles of mulch that you see south of I-465 just west of Michigan Road in Indianapolis have been known to catch fire. As the mulch decomposes deep in the pile, it generates heat and gets hot enough to burn the surrounding mulch.
Piles of animal manure will do the same thing.
