Multiple MI Departments Battle Large Barn Fire for Eight Hours

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI—A large barn filled with more than 1,500 bales of hay and other farm equipment was destroyed in a Wednesday morning fire battled by eight fire departments.

Fire crews were called shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, to the barn in the 2000 block of Jennings Road in northeast Webster Township near Whitmore Lake, according to the Dexter Area Fire Department.

The barn, fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived, was unoccupied but filled with dry hay which is believed to have been ignited by a space heater, officials said.

As the barn was located in a heavily rural area, there was no access to a municipal water supply, leading fire crews to call in additional support from tanker trucks from fire departments across the county, officials said.

Crews from eight departments worked the scene for eight hours, extinguishing the blaze filling the tanker trucks with water drawn from Independence Lake and a retention pond at Whitmore Lake High School, officials said.

No injuries were reported at the scene.

Assisting Dexter at the scene were the Scio Township Fire Department, Northfield Township Fire Department, Green Oak Township Fire Department, Hamburg Township Fire Department, Ann Arbor Township Fire Department, Putnam Township Fire Department and the Chelsea Area Fire Authority.

Huron Valley Ambulance and HART also assisted at the scene.

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