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Fire destroys barn near Morris

MORRIS – In just a matter of minutes, a large old barn in the 800 block of Potato Patch Lane, about five miles south of here, in Lycoming County’s Pine Township, went up in flames Sunday afternoon, and burned out of control for more than an hour.

Morris Fire Chief Dean Kreger, the first on the scene, said light smoke was coming from the back of the structure when he arrived just after 2 p.m.

The fire, which was going up the outside of the barn, soon extended to the interior, sending thick black smoke several hundred feet into the air, Kreger said. Shortly after that, the entire barn was engulfed in flames, he added.

The identity of the property owner was not known, but a house on the land was being rented by Aaron Rush and his family.

“The barn was putting off so much heat, we really couldn’t get too close to it,” Kreger said. With the barn a total loss, volunteer firefighters worked to prevent radiant heat from igniting two houses, one about 100 feet away and another 150 feet away, he added. Neither property sustained fire damage as firefighters continuously poured water on them.

Besides Morris, firemen from Liberty, Blossburg, Wellsboro, Middlebury Township and Wateville together battled the intense flames. One Morris firefighter collapsed from heat exhaustion and was taken by ambulance to Soldiers and Sailors Hospital, Wellsboro, where he was treated and later discharged.

Water for the blaze was shuttled to the scene by tankers from a pond at the Ski Sawmill Resort.

The fire was believed to be accidental, Kreger said. “There was a campfire at the back of the barn Saturday night. A spark likely hid (smoldered) in some mulch” and caught the barn on fire, he said.

“It was not a working farm. An old car and some other items were stored in the barn, but that was it,” Kreger said.

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