A 40-by-60-foot pole barn and a large amount of contents were destroyed in a Saturday morning fire at the Bart Copple residence in the 3500 block of Robin Road southeast of Salem.
Salem Assistant Fire Chief Bill Fulton says a neighbor first spotted the fire, and the building was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived.
Fulton reports Copple had just recently moved to the area and was storing items in the barn along with his son, who was in the process of moving to his own new home in rural Centralia.
The damage was so extensive that a backhoe was used to spread the burning materials to help put the fire out.
The cause of the fire is listed as undetermined, but Fulton says it may have started in a refrigerator.
Salem was assisted on the scene by Kell, Odin, and Centralia Fire Protection District, with Kinmundy-Alma standing by at the Salem Fire Station in the event of another fire.
The fire call came in at 5:40 Saturday morning, with firemen on the scene until around 9:30. They were called out to a rekindle early Saturday afternoon.
