GERMAN TWP., Clark County — A fire tore through a Clark County barn early Friday morning, killing at least one 4-H pig, according to firefighters.
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No one was injured in the fire in the 4800 block of Troy Road in German Twp., but the barn was a total loss, said Tim Holman, German Twp. fire chief. The fire was not suspicious and no cause has been determined.
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The fire appeared to have started near the middle of the barn, and the structure was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived, according to investigators. Dispatchers began receiving calls at 12:49 a.m., and crews were on the scene 12 minutes later, he said.
“When we got there, there just wasn’t a whole lot to save,” Holman said.
Homeowner Theresa Ward said when they discovered the blaze after midnight, they tried with a garden hose to put it out after calling 911. Holman said firefighters were told one pig was killed in the fire.
“There were several other pigs there but they were out, so they weren’t harmed,” Holman said.
“It was the longest 11 minutes of our lives,” Ward said. “We were trying to save our animals and we just watched [the barn] go up in flames. There was nothing we could do.”
Ward said two of her grandchildren participate in 4-H, and the pigs belonged to them. She said an electrical problem may have started the fire.
Ward said they did not have insurance on the barn and she wasn’t sure how they will rebuild. An estimated cost of damages was not available.
There was little firefighters could do when they arrived, Holman said.
“We went ahead and pulled a line and hit the hot spots so it didn’t spread,” Holman said. “We also cooled off the house because it was in close proximity. When a barn goes down you have all the aluminum that comes down on top that comes down and it hides some of the fire, so we had to pull that off to get to the rest of the fire. We kept an engine there till about 3:30 a.m.,” he said.