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Franklin

Fire destroys farmer's hay, uninsured barn

Published on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2005 at 12:12 am | Last updated on Friday, Sep 4, 2009 at 1:01 am

FARMINGTON - Firefighters battled a fire Saturday afternoon on Farmington Falls Road that destroyed a barn extension and roughly 150 round bales of hay.

According to Tim Hardy of the Farmington Fire Department, about 30 Farmington firefighters and several from Chesterville and New Sharon battled the blaze for nearly five hours starting around 2:30 p.m. Wilton firefighters provided backup at the Farmington station.

The fire continued to smolder in hay that had been spread in the nearby field, however, and firefighters were back on the scene at 11 p.m. Saturday to eliminate the smoke. Nearby neighbors complained of the smell, which Hardy described as rancid.

Firefighters worked an additional three hours tearing apart hay with hand tools and wetting down the smoldering dry grass. When Hardy checked the field again later Sunday morning, he called on firefighters at 8 a.m. to further work to mitigate the smoldering ruins. At 3:40 p.m. Monday, firefighters were called out once again when the fire was once more reported to be smoldering.

The building belongs to a Massachusetts resident and was not insured, according to Farmington Fire Chief Terry Bell, who said the cause of the blaze is not known and was not being investigated. The hay belonged to nearby farmer Marc Bailey.

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