Late night fire burns down 137-year-old barn near Ragersville

  • By Tricia Flickinger
  • August 17, 2010
  • 333
                        
Firefighters from the Sugarcreek Fire Department responded to a barn fire near Ragersville at 9:52 p.m. and were on scene at 10:08 p.m. on Aug. 16. The barn was owned by John and Ruth Young, 3120 Ragersville Road Southwest, located in Auburn Township. Once the call was received and firefighters arrived at the scene of the blaze, the barn was fully engulfed in flames. According to Sugarcreek Fire Chief Jim Harrison, the cause of the blaze is still unknown. “It’s going to be undetermined,” he said. “The barn was fully involved when we got there. We’re suspecting a little bit electrical because of the total destruction. We have been in contact with the Ohio State Fire Marshal’s office.” Other fire departments that assisted on the scene were Dover, York Township, Stone Creek, Bakersville, Baltic, East Holmes and Smith Valley Ambulance. East Holmes also covered Sugarcreek’s station during the blaze. The total replacement cost is valued at around $200,000. In the upper level of the barn, there was about $45,000-$50,000 worth of hay and a boat valued at $5,000 was underneath the barn. There was no livestock in the barn at the time of the fire. Harrison said the hay was put in the barn in May, so he is ruling out spontaneous combustion as a likely cause of the blaze. Respondents were at the residence until about 2:15 a.m. and then the Young’s kept an eye on the area the rest of the evening. The barn was built in 1873 and according to Harrison “it was in very good shape” for it’s age. “The Young’s kept very good care of their property,” Harrison added. No other injuries have been reported.


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