Jefferson firefighters braved frigid conditions the afternoon of Friday, Dec. 16 to extinguish a fire in a barn on Laren Road.
According to Jefferson Fire Chief Walter Morris, the fire was caused by a heat lamp hung from the barn’s rafters.
Morris said the heat lamp in question was not properly secured, fell on some hay, and started the fire.
The chief said that when he arrived on scene, the fire was starting to spread to the barn’s walls, and he used his water can to knock it down.
Morris said Jefferson crews then used a hose from one of the department’s engines to overhaul the area, turning over hay in the process to ensure the fire was extinguished.
He said the department used a thermal imaging camera to ensure the fire had not spread to the interior of the barn’s walls.
Morris said a pig and two piglets were in the barn at the time of the fire, but were uninjured.
The chief said there was some damage from the fire, but he believed the barn’s structural integrity is sound.
“There was some charring of supports to the wall, but nothing to compromise the building’s structural integrity,” Morris said.
He said 12 firefighters responded to the scene at 34 Laren Road, and two engines and one tanker, including an engine from the department’s south station, responded, clearing the scene at 4:22 p.m.
Lincoln County Communications paged out the Jefferson Fire Department around 3:30 p.m.
