Barn Fire

[Destroked 450]

WE got called out to a barn fire at 11:30 last night, a friends old tobacco barn that he stored his equipment was on fire.
Roads had been plowed but still had a coating of snow and ice on them, at 3 degrees F salt wasn't melting anything.
I could see the glow in the sky when I left the house so I knew we were not going to save it, by the time first engine arrived the roof has fallen in and all was lost.
He lost the barn, 3 JD tractors, 1 with a loader, discbine, rake, round baler, batwing mower, grinder mixer, gn trailer, 4 wheeler, zero turn mower, new log splinter he'd just purchased, all of his tools and spare parts.
He did have another tractor with loader he feed his cows with in another barn and that's all he has left of his farm equipment.

I was really sad for him and hope his insurance company treats him right.

 

[Bill(Wis)]

Do you know what caused it?

 

[Centerplate]

I hope he was not under insured.

 

[jdr1943]

Destroked450 you said it was an old tobacco barn i assume you are in Va,NC or SC i was in our local volunteer dept.for 26 yrs.we were never able to save a barn full of tobacco being cured.

 

[jacksun65]

No he is in Kentucky Lots of old tobacco barns used for storage. I had one burn a few years back due to mice and wiring had an old fuse panel mice got into. I lost a baler bunch of tools mower rake etc. State farm insurance Adjuster said they wouldn't give but $5000 for a five bent barn but since I had it as a rider on my home owners policy they would pay replacement for the contents. Got more for the contents than the barn.

 

[730virgil]

i remember as a kid local farmer had a fire buildings close together very windy day the only thing he had left was house. he was out of
farming. He had barrowed neighbors' tractor that went up also.

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Gives you a real sick to your stomach feeling.

 

[aFORDable]

I'm a tobacco farmer in Ky. When a tobacco barn catches on fire when firing tobacco you likely couldn't save it if the firetruck was next door. I'd just as soon they burn completely anyway because of having less to clean up. We've lost two over the years. That is sad about the loss mentioned above though. Lots of old tobacco barns are used as sheds now.

 

[Destroked 450]

(quoted from post at 10:50:15 02/17/21) Do you know what caused it?

Went back there this afternoon after it had cooled some, it was a 60x64 tobacco barn his grandfather had built many years ago, I remember it from when I was a kid.
They didn't raise tobacco anymore and had converted it to equipment storage, other than a few lights in the barn and a few plugs in the striping room there was minimum electrical.
It appears the fire started in or around a JD cab tractor that was parked in the center shed near the front of the barn.

 

[BillinCentralMO]

That too bad. Thinking about adding a small shed to our place. I think I will put it far enough from the other buildings
, that fire could not easily jump to the next building. Hope your friend gets back on track again.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

Actually Kentucky is the 2nd largest tobacco raising state, and North Carolina is first. But Ky raises the most burley tobacco and NC raises a lot of flue cured. IIRCC. Mark.