Fire destroys outbuilding early Saturday
Fire destroyed a small pig shelter but did not spread to the nearby home early Saturday morning west of Berthoud.
Flames shot as high as 25 feet into the air, destroying the small outbuilding and burning a tree in the 800 block of South County Road 21, according to information from the Berthoud Fire Protection District.
Crews, who responded at 2:14 a.m., had the fire extinguished within 15 minutes, Battalion Chief Scott Lindschmidt reported.
“It was basically a little Pot-bellied pig’s house,” Lindschmidt said.
“It was a 10 by 20 outbuilding. There was a pig, but it made it out. It’s good to go.”
Someone saw the flames and knocked on the window at the house that was located 10 to 12 feet in front of the outbuilding, according to fire crews.
The knocking woke the homeowner.
“He came downstairs, looked outside, and lo and behold, his barn was on fire,” Lindschmidt said.
Crews used hose lines to extinguish the fire in below-freezing temperatures.
The battalion chief said that the water in hoses was fine while running but quickly froze up once the action had stopped.
“The hoses were actually freezing when they were putting them away,” said Lindschmidt.
“They had to roll them up really quickly. The temperature on my truck said 13 degrees outside.”
No one was injured, and fire officials believe, but cannot confirm, that a heat lamp sparked the fire, according to Lindschmidt.
Helping the Berthoud Fire Protection District on scene were Loveland Fire Rescue Authority, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and Thompson Valley Emergency Medical Services.