2-ALARM FIRE DESTROYS FARM SHED, TRACTORS IN LANCASTER COUNTY. A BLOCK HEATER USED TO KEEP AN ENGINE WARM SO A PIECE OF MACHINERY WILL START AFTER A COLD NIGHT SPARKED THE FIRE
Saturday,
January 31, 2015
A
two-alarm fire caused $150,000 damage to a large building and several tractors
on a farm in Rapho Township.
A
neighbor spotted the blaze at 2147 Wisgarver Road shortly after 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Mastersonville Fire Company Deputy Chief Jeff Siegrist said.
Flames
quickly went through the roof of the 60-by-100-foot storage and maintenance
shed.
“We
couldn’t really save anything there, so we kept it from spreading,” Siegrist
said. Forty or more firefighters prevented the fire from significantly damaging
a corn crib next to the shed.
A
dozen or more fire companies sent units to fight the fire. Thirteen tankers
hauled water from a fill site at Sauder Bros. Concrete, 1464 Mastersonville
Road.
The
building is back a long, narrow unpaved lane, making access difficult. Snow was
drifting across roads and the lane, so some apparatus went through a field.
“Extreme
cold caused problems,” Siegrist said. “Equipment froze up, apparatus got stuck
in the snow. Wind made it cold on the guys, so we had to rotate crews through.”
Firefighters
brought the blaze under control at 9:13 p.m. and stayed at the scene until 1
a.m. Saturday. No people or animals were injured.
The
shed and nearly all of its contents, including at least seven tractors and
other equipment, were destroyed, Siegrist said. Most of the tractors were old
and may not have been working.
Damage
was estimated at $100,000 to the building, $50,000 to contents.
A
state police fire marshal ruled the fire accidental. It is thought a block
heater used to keep an engine warm so a piece of machinery will start after a
cold night sparked the fire, Siegrist said.
The
property is owned by Roy High and others, according to county property records.
The
same property was hit by a small fire when an oil furnace malfunctioned in
December 2013, according to newspaper records. Damage from that fire was
minimal.