Fire Marshal Says Cause of Barn Fire Looks Electrical

Investigators believe the cause of a on Long Lane is electrical.

Tom Baker said on Friday morning that he traced the source of the fire to the electrical panel. There are three main leads that went into the building, he said. "Three to five feet of wiring — we don't know where it is. It just vaporized."

The fire marshal's office is now looking into what could have caused the sudden electrical fire.

"It's something we've seen before," Baker said. About a year ago, at a house on Windmill Lane, part of the copper wiring just blasted apart. "It's pretty remarkable."

Firefighters from at least three departments were on scene at 168 Long Lane for more than three hours after the initial call on Thursday at about 1 p.m. Two of those hours were spent fighting flames that had traveled into the eaves of the barn and were difficult to reach.

The building was used as a garage and office space for J&R Landscaping. Baker said he spoke to the owners, who reported no problems with the electrical, such as sudden dimming, flickering or outages.

No one was on the property when the fire broke out. A firefighter driving by saw the smoke and discovered the barn was on fire.

"There's quite a bit of landscaping between the building and road," Baker said, adding that the fire went from the electrical panel, traveling inside the wall. "It can stay concealed for a while," he said. "It was pretty rapid in terms of what it did, in terms of moving."

Chief Tom Bono said on Thursday that the fire had been a difficult one to reach. Baker agreed. He said there were many plantings that were up close to the barn on one side, while on another side there were wire cages for trees, and on the third side there was a pre-fab tent. An old burned truck was sitting in front of the building, he said.

Smoke detectors were set off inside the barn, and were still going off when firefighters arrived, but they were not hooked to an alarm company to notify the fire department, according to Baker.

The fire marshal said the second floor sustained most of the damage. Some landscaping equipment on the ground floor was salvageable.

Baker said the fire department was called back out for a fire that rekindled there at about 6:45 p.m., but that it was due to several bundles of burlap, for covering greenery in the winter. "That type of material will just sit and smolder."

The department also had to lay 3,000 feet of hose to the nearest hydrant to get water to its tower ladder to douse the barn with and get to the flames shooting through the roof.

Asked if the area needs more hydrants, the fire marshal said he thinks it may be that the road needs a bigger water main. "They do have a series of hydrants and electric wells. It's something I'm sure the fire chief will take up. If he feels the area needs more, he'll ask for it."

Baker said the activity in the commercial farming area, just a mile or so from , has grown over the years. "I remember when it was just fields without the buildings."