Farmington sap shack burns to ground

FARMINGTON — A small sap-boiling building burned to the ground Sunday night on Howard Lane off Route 27, Fire Rescue Chief Terry Bell said Monday.

Sap-boiling equipment was heavily damaged.

The fire was reported at about 7:55 p.m. by a passer-by.

The owner, Bill Howard, had been boiling sap earlier in the day but was not doing so when the fire broke out, Bell said.  

Eleven firefighters from Farmington responded. The shack was already burned when firefighters arrived, Bell said.

They put 200 gallons of water on the debris to extinguish the fire.

It is the second sugar shack to be destroyed by fire since early March. A 16- by 20-foot shack and its equipment burned on March 3 on Weston Heights in North Jay. The owner also had been boiling sap earlier in the day.