Barn lost in early morning fire
MUDDY CREEK TWP — A fire early Wednesday morning demolished a barn and prompted a second call later in the day.
A large 500-square-foot barn caught fire at 166 Flinner Road, and rekindled in the midst of the hottest day so far this summer.
Homeowner Mike Brenneman said his son had been sleeping outside on a hammock and was the first to spot the fire.
“He came in running, yelling, ‘The barn’s on fire,’” Brenneman said.
Butler County 911 dispatched multiple crews around 3:20 a.m. to the location and found the barn beyond saving, according to Portersville-Muddy Creek Township Assistant Fire Chief Todd Hinkle.
“The barn was fully involved,” Hinkle said. “We set up big lines and poured water on it. That’s all we could do.”
According to Brenneman, most of the barn was much older, possibly dating to the 1800s. It sat on stacked rock foundation. Mixed into the debris of wooden studs and metal roof panels were much older timbers from the barn’s framing.
“It was a good old barn,” Brenneman said.
According to Brenneman, the barn was full of hay, equipment and hand tools, all of which were lost. There were electric lines heading to the barn, which was insured.
Hinkle said the structure collapsed about an hour into firefighters working the scene. He said beyond the structure, the primary concern was other buildings and equipment surrounding it.
The barn was located as an almost central structure on the property, flanked by multiple trailers, at least two other barns and a two-story home. Both the home and barns showed damage in the form of warped siding or melted paint, and the trailers had singed lights and melted tires.
Brenneman said the siding on his house, which is about 100 yards away, melted.
“We were standing there on the porch, and it was uncomfortably hot,” Brenneman said.
Hinkle said hay burns hot and quick, and wet hay retains heat from embers and the sun. He said hay often is a cause of rekindling, which prompted his department to revisit the property around noon.
“When hay gets wet, it builds up heat and burns itself,” Hinkle said. “It will spontaneously combust, and that’s what happened.”
Brenneman said when he called the second time, his concern again was with the surrounding buildings. He said it again could have spread to his other barns or to surrounding piles of wood.
“There’s just fuel for it,” he said. “I’ve lost enough today.”
Unlike the earlier call, which had started in the dark and ended around 8:30 a.m., the fire wasn’t the only heat the firefighters had to worry about. Butler County entered a heat advisory at 11 a.m. with anticipated highs in the 90s along with a humidity that generated a heat index of 102 F.
Brenneman brought a cooler loaded with cold drinks, which Hinkle said was much appreciated.
“Keeping hydrated is the biggest thing,” Hinkle said. “We kept everybody working in short shifts.”
Particularly in the afternoon, younger firefighters had water hoses in their hands more often than others. Hinkle said it was a less pressure situation to get some hands-on experience for them.
“It’s a good opportunity for training,” Hinkle said.
In the early morning call, Butler County fire departments from Prospect, Harmony and Slippery Rock assisted, as well as Lawrence County departments from Princeton borough and Slippery Rock, Scott and Princeton townships.
Firefighters used an estimated 40,000 gallons on the initial call.
Both Portersville-Muddy Creek Township and Prospect-Franklin Township fire departments responded to the later rekindling, using about 3,000 gallons of water.
