photo contributed.
(Oyens) — Firefighters from Oyens, Le Mars and Merrill responded to a barn fire that was reported Monday afternoon at about 4:30 p.m. The fire was at a farm 38284 County road C-44, about ten miles southeast of Le Mars. Smoke from the barn fire could be seen for several miles. The barn was filled with hay. Oyens fire chief Tim Bolton says the structure was a complete
loss.
Bolton says the fire was perhaps started because of the skid loader was located inside the barn, and the owner was conducting mechanical work on the skid loader.
The Oyens fire chief says there wasn’t any livestock inside the burning facility, so no animals were perished during the fire. However, the fire did spread to an aluminum livestock trailer that was parked near burning barn.
Bolton says the barn did have about 100 square bales of either hay or straw that was stored inside that was destroyed as a result of the fire. Bolton says the fire was primarily confined to the major barn structure, however, a couple of other nearby structures was also lost.
Firefighters were on the scene for a little more than two hours. There were no injuries with the fire.
