A quick response by Newtown Hook & Ladder, and with volunteers from Newtown’s four other fire companies close behind, contained and extinguished a raging barn fire that temporarily threatened a coop and residence at 2 Blackman Road late Friday afternoon, September 24.

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance and police also responded; however, no injuries or further damage resulted.

Deputy Fire Marshal David Ober told The Newtown Bee that the property owner arrived on scene as the burned structure was being overhauled.

According to town records, the property is owned by Jeffrey and Bonnie Zahansky. The two-story barn is listed as being approximately 300 square feet, and was adjacent to a coop, and approximately 30 feet from the main house, which was originally constructed in the late 1700s.

Neither of the adjacent structures were damaged.

Fire hydrants in proximity to the fire eliminated the need for volunteers to respond with tanker trucks for water, according to Ober.

“At that time of day, we responded all local fire companies. This fire required water and manpower and we were fortunate to have both,” he said. “We knocked the fire down pretty quickly, but the overhaul and cleanup took some time because of firewood being stored inside.”

He said the commanding officer on scene did not risk sending anyone up to the second floor because of the instability of the floor. As a result, Ober said, firefighters had to pull down parts of the barn walls to ensure no remaining pockets of fire were burning in the loft.

“We saw great cooperation from all our fire districts,” Ober said.

He added that the fire was called in by an observant neighbor who lived on Mt Pleasant Road, and that the fire appeared to have started in the front area of the out building.

Ober suspected that the structure was likely a total loss, and indicated an investigation to determine the cause was still ongoing at press time.

=====

Editor John Voket can be reached at john@thebee.com.