Sanborn, Iowa — A barn was damaged in a fire on Monday, May 29, 2017 near Sanborn.
According to Sanborn Firefighter Jeff Kuehl, at 12:42 PM, the Sanborn Fire Department was called to the report of a farm building on fire on a farm owned by Galen Niemeyer at 2761 Redwood Avenue, four miles north of Sanborn’s west side. That’s less than a mile south of the county line.
Kuehl says the fire department saw the barn on fire as they approached the scene. Firefighter Kuehl says they pumped water onto the roof and then mounted an interior attack in the haymow.
He says they called for the Melvin Fire Department to be paged for extra manpower, but after they had made their initial attack, and before the Melvin department arrived they told them they could disregard the call.
Firefighter Kuehl says no injuries were reported, and there was no livestock in the barn, which he said was being used for storage. He says a truck had been in the barn, but when they noticed the barn was on fire the residents removed the truck from the barn.
He says the cause of the fire appeared to have been sparks from a wood-burning pile that were carried by the wind and landed on the wood shingles on the roof of the barn.
He says that there was moderate damage to the roof and a rafter or two may need to be repaired or replaced, but that the structure was still sound.
He says they used 500 to 600 gallons of water on the barn, and 1000 gallons to put out the wood pile. Kuehl says crews were on scene for about an hour.
