Children playing with matches spark large barn fire near Manchester, officials say
Children playing with matches sparked a large fire that destroyed a barn on a dairy farm in Freedom Township Thursday and damaged a truck, tractor and nearby garage, Manchester fire officials said.
No one was injured in the 5:55 p.m. fire on Pleasant Lake Road.
Manchester Fire Chief Bill Scully said firefighters could see the smoke from Manchester as they were responding. The station is more than eight miles from Horning Farms.
When firefighters arrived, the barn - full of hay and straw - was engulfed, Scully said.
"We were just protecting the exposures and trying to extinguish the hay," Scully said.
Firefighters from Manchester, Saline, Dexter and Clinton were on the scene until about 11 p.m.
Scully said the 40-foot by 80-foot barn was a total loss. A damage estimate has not been determined.
The fire was accidental and was apparently stated by young children, whose parents work on the dairy farm, Scully said. The kids apparently were playing with matches, he added.
Earl Horning, who runs Horning Farms with his family, said his son noticed the fire Thursday evening. He said the 30-year-old barn was only used for storage, and no animals were in danger.
"It was a loss, but no one was hurt," Horning said.
Comments
jt
Sun, Mar 7, 2010 : 6:48 p.m.
"I expected better." Why is that?
a2ete
Sat, Mar 6, 2010 : 1:59 p.m.
jt.... you've got to be kidding. Really, "Having a Tea Party?" Just had to make a political statement, didn't you?. I expected better.
jt
Sat, Mar 6, 2010 : 10:15 a.m.
"We all gotta learn one wayt or another. Fire Bad. " No, fire good, I use it every day at home, work and play. Uncontrolled fire bad. Unsupervised children bad.
jt
Sat, Mar 6, 2010 : 9:53 a.m.
Kids playing with matches? Were they having a Tea Party?
spm
Sat, Mar 6, 2010 : 7:56 a.m.
Sounds like the kids got out ok. Bet they were probably hiding somewhere in awe of what they just did rather than inform the grown-ups of the fire before it got out of control. They probably felt like me when I played with matches and managed to catch my long hair on fire. I was more afraid of what my mom would do to me when she found out than the fact I could have seriously gotten hurt.
PR of AA
Fri, Mar 5, 2010 : 2:22 p.m.
Feel bad for the kids nothing.....You learn from your mistakes and they need to learn from this, unfortunately their parents checkbook will learn the toughest lesson.
Lokalisierung
Fri, Mar 5, 2010 : 2:15 p.m.
We all gotta learn one wayt or another. Fire Bad.
M.
Fri, Mar 5, 2010 : 1:43 p.m.
I feel bad for the kids. Not sure on the age, but as "children" they're probably really scared right now, and who knows what kind of punishment a parent is supposed to deal for burning down an entire barn!
Jeff S
Fri, Mar 5, 2010 : 10:05 a.m.
no photos?