Firefighters responded to a barn fire that occurred around 11:26 a.m. Monday at the 33000 block of Reum Street, in Howard Township.

Four fire truck units were on scene from Howard Township, Niles Township and Niles City.  The SMCAS ambulance services also responded. 

Firefighters blasted the metal barn with water and tore away a side of the building, where they sprayed more water on bales of hay that had caught fire.

No one was injured and there were no animals inside the barn.

According to Niles volunteer firefighter Jack Frost, authorities suspect that some hay bales inside of the barn spontaneously combusted, due partly to weather fluctuations between warm and cool
temperatures.

Frost said an additional factor could have been the dampness of the hay, which has the potential to trigger a chemical reaction that can lead to spontaneous combustion.

Frost said he had been doing some part-time work on the farm down the road when a fellow employee told him that a neighboring farm’s barn was on fire.

“He told us to ‘stop what you are doing. The barn is on fire,’” Frost said. 

As a volunteer firefighter, Frost said he always has his radio equipment with him. He  was able to radio area firefighters about the situation and help arrived within five minutes.

Jeff Peterson, co-owner of the farm, said his brother spotted smoke pouring from one of the round bales that morning. His brother notified the authorities right away and then grabbed a hose to try to tamp out the flames.

“By the time he got the hose, it was already a fire ball,” Peterson said.

Despite the incident, Peterson said he was grateful that there was a firefighter nearby to provide swift assistance.

“It was nice having a firefighter here who knew what to do,” Peterson said.

According to Peterson, the barn contained approximately 25 round bales, which cost a couple of thousand dollars and corn stalks. There was no equipment. The barn also did not have any electrical power sources.

Firefighters fought to keep the blaze from spreading to an adjacent barn, where there were several pieces of equipment and some pressurized cans stored.

During the blaze, farm personnel were able to remove the equipment from the barn that was in the fire’s path.

Frost said the farm owners had been using a thermometer to measure the bales’ temperature, before the fire. The method is supposed to reduce the likelihood of spontaneous combustion. 

Niles Township Fire Chief Gary Brovold said that crews would remain on scene for most of the afternoon to monitor the area.