Early Wednesday morning fire destroys barn
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GEESEYTOWN -- A hot, raging fire destroyed a barn along Tel Power Road early Wednesday morning.
First responders were dispatched about 12:30 a.m. for reports of a barn fire near the crossroads of Winsome Lane/Scenic Knoll Drive, behind the Penn Turf operation.
Firefighters said that despite a rapid response, the building was fully involved when they arrived.
"It was a very big fire, and very hot," said Paul Detwiler, assistant chief of the Geeseytown Community Fire Department. "We immediately were defensive and just drowned the building with water. Nobody went inside."
Detwiler said the building, owned by the DeGol Organization, was strictly a storage facility, adding that no people or animals were in the building at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported.
With all of the equipment inside of the building, Detwiler said the flames were so large that more than 57,000 gallons of water were required to douse the flames.
Propane tanks that were buried in the ground also made the task much more difficult for first responders.
"The fire just continued to grow," Detwiler said. "The propane tanks kept igniting. We battled (the fire) for hours."
Crews were on scene for more than five hours, and 13 different companies from throughout the area were called to the scene.
Due to the fire being in a rural area, first responders were forced to shuttle water between a fire hydrant at the Frankstown Township Sewer Plant and the incident scene.
"We were pumping a lot of water," Detwiler said.
Aside from a mechanical malfunction involving a fire engine, Detwiler said it was a smooth process given all the different fire departments involved.
In addition to the firefighters on scene, personnel from other departments were also dispatched to transfer into surrounding fire stations vacated due to the fire.
"It was a great collaboration between all the different departments," Detwiler said. "We had just about everyone in Blair County there. It all worked out. It was a good effort by everyone. I'm proud of all the departments that stepped in and helped."
The cause of the fire is undetermined, and Detwiler said the fire marshal is currently investigating.
Mirror Staff Writer Calem Illig is at 814-946-7535.