MEC&F Expert Engineers : MASSIVE FIRE DESTROYS 20,000-SQ FT BARN IN VAN BUREN COUNTY, MICHIGAN

Friday, March 27, 2015

MASSIVE FIRE DESTROYS 20,000-SQ FT BARN IN VAN BUREN COUNTY, MICHIGAN







MARCH 27, 2015

BANGOR, MICHIGAN

Fire consumed a 20,000-square-foot barn Thursday night in Van Buren County, causing an estimated $200,000 in damages.

At approximately 8 p.m. Thursday, the Bangor Fire Department responded to 36399 County Road 681, Bangor, on reports of a barn fire. There they discovered an out building, roughly 50 feet behind a two-story home, partly involved in flames, Bangor Fire Chief Derek Babcock said.

"It was all through the roof here," Babcock said, pointing to the barn's southwest corner. "There was just so much wood and lumber, bales of hay stacked in the back.

"It was tough getting (the fire) under control," he added.

Firefighters doused the building with water from five different hoses and cut large holes into the barn's second story siding in order to ventilate the flames, Babcock said.

It took roughly two hours for crews to subdue the fire, and by 11:30 p.m. eight different departments, including the Lawrence, Keeler Township, Watervliet, Columbia Township, and Hartford fire departments were on scene, Babcock said.

A neighbor, driving a front end loader, used his equipment to clear debris and open up lanes for fire-hoses, according to Babcock.

Though flames crept through majority of the 20,000-square-foot barn, firefighters managed to control the spread.

"We made a stop here," Babcock said, pointing at the barn's north end, which contained a snowmobile, a four-wheeler and more than five antique horse carriages.

"We did a good job getting (that property out)," the Bangor fire chief added, "but (the barn) is a total loss." 

There were no injuries in the fire, Babcock said. The property, saved by firefighters, was valued at roughly $15,000 by the homeowner.

Preliminary investigations suggest the fire started in the southwest corner of the building, Babcock said, and was possibly caused by a wood boiler, which set 30 bales of hay, as well as nearby timber, alight.

Emergency personal closed a two-mile stretch of road in order to fight the blaze.
Source: http://www.mlive.com