A large barn was fully engulfed in flames when the Salem Fire Protection District arrived on the scene of the fire early Wednesday night.
Salem Assistant Fire Chief Bill Fulton says the fire was at the John Ciko home at 3126 County Farm Road three and a half miles south of US 50 southeast of Salem. Ciko’s son was home at the time and first spotted the smoke.
“When we got there the barn was fully involved. We believe the fire started in some hay that was probably a little high moisture probably started from a spontaneous combustion. Our biggest challenge was getting hay out of the barn so it wasn’t feeding the fire. The rest of them got the fire knocked down with the assistance of Kell, Iuka and Odin stood by at our station.”
Fulton says the Stevenson Township Road Commissioner also brought a backhoe to the scene to help move the hay outside.
“Hay fires are always difficult because the density of the hay water doesn’t do a lot for it. You just got to get it out and let it burn out.”
Fulton says the fire burned through the roof of the L-shaped barn and some of the walls fell as the inside area was gutted.
Firemen had to shuttle water from the USDA office on East Main Street in Salem as there were no hydrants in the area of the fire.
The call came in at 5:20 Wednesday evening. Firemen cleared the scene just before 9 pm. There were no injuries.
