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CANTON -- A man perished Friday in a large barn fire on Route 414 in Tioga County’s Union Township, Canton Fire Chief Ray Miller confirmed.
The man killed in the fire has been identified as Jay Paul Myer, 73, who lived on the farm and owned the property, state police said.
“He entered and exited the barn multiple times attempting to save livestock and machinery” a witness told investigators, according to Cpl. Nathan Birth, a state police fire marshal who responded to the scene. The death has been ruled accidental, he said.
The barn, a 100- by 60-foot structure, was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived on the scene just before 10 a.m., Miller said.
“We could see a column of smoke at least six miles away,” he said.
When firefighters pulled up in front of the barn, they were told there was a person possibly trapped in the inferno.
However, due to the intense flames, there was no way firefighters could safely enter the building whatsoever, Miller said. Part of the roof was already collapsing, he added.
Myer was found inside the rubble, Miller said. A state police fire marshal responded as did a representative from the Tioga County Coroner’s Office.
The blaze -- located in the 13000 block of Route 414 and fought by volunteer fire companies from more than a dozen communities from Tioga, Bradford and Lycoming counties – fought the fire for hours before it was brought under control, Miller said.
The cause of the fire remains undetermined at this time, he said.
Water was shuttled to the scene from a nearby bond.
While the barn -- which was filled with bales of hay and farm equipment – was a total loss, firefighters were successful in saving an outbuilding, about 20 feet away from the barn, that was scorched by radiant heat. There was no livestock in the barn.
Firefighters remained on the scene until 6 p.m.