Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
TWO-ALARM FIRE GUTS FARM BUILDING
No injuries were reported, no animals harmed in blaze
HIGHLAND >> A raging fire roared through a farm building in the township Friday morning, authorities said.
No injuries were reported, but the workshop building was destroyed and several pieces of farm equipment went up in flames.
No animals were injured in the blaze.
The fire was reported just after 10 a.m. in the corrugated steel structure on the Lantz farm on Old Racetrack Road, outside Parkesburg. It quickly went to two alarms.
Fire roared through the large structure that was used to store farm equipment. Several tractors and a truck went up in flames, but an adjoining building, a combine and several distinctive silos were saved.
Acrid smoke drifted over the area as firefighters battled the flames and snow to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters used a hose from Keystone Valley’s ladder truck and numerous hand lines on the fire. Siding on a nearby building was melted as firefighters trained hoses on a external fuel tank
to keep it cool.
Water supply was an issue in the remote location and firefighters had to bring in tanker trucks to fight the blaze.
Fire Marshal Latta White said the preliminary investigation indicates the a wood burning stove as a possible cause. The owner reported lighting the stove then coming back a short time later to find the building on fire.
Keystone Valley was assisted by Cochranville, Modena, Christina, West Grove, Union of Oxford, Westwood, Po-Mar-Lin and Coatesville Fire companies as well as Medic 93.
The fire was under control by 11:30 a.m. Keystone Valley firefighters were on scene until 1:30 cleaning up hot spots.