Fire destroys barn

Fire destroys barn

‘It was glowing pretty good in the sky.’

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor

WEARE TOWNSHIP — Fire destroyed a barn on 72nd Avenue south of Monroe Road during the early morning hours Thursday, June 29, according to Pentwater Fire Chief Jonathan Hughart, who was the commander on scene.

The barn, measuring approximately 24 feet by 24 feet, was “fully engulfed” when firefighters arrived at the scene, said the chief. “It was starting to collapse at the time we got there.”

Firefighters responded to the scene shortly after 1 a.m. after Hart and Shelby-Benona fire departments were dispatched to a grass fire in the area near the US 31 expressway. “As everybody was en route to the grass fire, we got calls for a structure fire. No grass fire was found on the highway, but we were speculating that people were seeing the orange glow from the barn thinking there was a fire on the highway when it was just actually the barn. It was glowing pretty good in the sky.”

Approximately 15-20 firefighters from Hart, Pentwater, Shelby-Benona and Crystal Township responded to the scene, said Hughart. “Great Lakes Energy assisted us with the power, and Life EMS was there as well.” No one was injured. 

“The barn seemed to just be used for storage,” said the chief. No farm animals were believed to be inside. The contents were also destroyed. “It’s a total loss.”

“The homeowner lost power to his residence, and when he went outside, he saw his barn was on fire.” The barn was insured, he added.

“The cause of it is undetermined at this time. Nothing seems suspicious.”

Over 10,000 gallons of water were used to extinguish the blaze. “The guys did a great job last night,” said the chief. “It was tucked back in his property, so we had to use our small water trucks to fight the fire, because we couldn’t get our big engines back there. We were able to contain it to that area — it didn’t spread anywhere.”

Firefighters cleared the scene around 3:40 a.m.

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