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WITH VIDEO: No injuries as fire destroys barn

By Julie Riddle 1 min read

ALPENA -- Nobody was injured but residents lost several animals when a fire, possibly started by a warming lamp, destroyed a barn on Nicholson Hill Road near Spruce Road in Sanborn Township on Sunday afternoon.

The barn was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived at the farm. Firefighters first used water to cool down two empty silos flanking the burning barn to keep them from toppling, Sanborn Township Fire Chief Dale Hart Jr. said.

A resident at the farm said she suspected the fire was started by a warming lamp over chicks housed in the barn.

The chicks, a rabbit, and a litter of kittens probably died in the fire, she said.

Firefighters requested an excavator to overturn the heavy metal remains of the barn to get to burning materials underneath.

About 20 firefighters from Sanborn, Wilson, and Hubbard Lake townships fought the fire, with the help of water and firefighters from the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.

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