Update on Town of Lincoln Barn Fire

TOWNSHIP OF LINCOLN, WI (OnFocus) -At approximately 11:34pm last night Town of Lincoln Fire Dept., Richfield Rural Fire Dept., Town of Rock Fire and Rescue, Cameron Vol. Fire Dept. and Central RIT were paged to a fully engulfed barn fire in the 11600 block of State Highway 10 in the Town of Lincoln.

The original call came in from a neighbor and it was originally paged as a Town of Rock incident but the fire was across the road in the Town of Lincoln.

“Units arrived on scene to a fully engulfed barn fire with heavy flames showing on all sides with partial roof collapse and it was clear we were not going to be able to save the barn but had to protect the adjacent buildings,” stated Richfield Volunteer Fire Department in a release.

Richfield Fire Chief assumed command of the scene and a defensive attack was established. A MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) Box and 2nd Alarm was requested to bring in assistance from Chili Fremont Fire and Rescue, Marshfield Fire and Rescue Department, Hewitt Area Volunteer Fire Department, Pittsville Fire Company, and Spencer Fire Department & Ambulance Service.

Engines from Lincoln and Rock performed on-scene pumping duties and Richfield’s Truck (aerial) was set-up to help extinguish the fire. Two fill sites were established by Chili and Richfield to supply water and there were 10 tenders shuttling water to the scene.

State Highway 10 was shut down and was reopened at 5:42am. Lots of hay was stored in the barn, which led to an extended extinguishment operational period. The fire did spread to the two silos that were connected to the barn but the fire never spread from the building of origin. At the time of arrival, it was unclear if any cattle were still inside and we sadly report that some cattle did perish in the fire.

Special thanks to Marshfield Utilities for responding to disconnect power, Weiler Fuels for responding to refuel apparatus on scene, Kwik Trip for providing food and drink for the extended operation, Wood County Sheriff for traffic assistance, Doine Excavating for responding to help with removal of the tin so we could access the fire underneath, and Wood County Communications Center for assisting in contact resources needed.

Cause is undetermined but heavy lightning and several ground lightning strikes were heard prior to the fire by the owners and neighbors.

Crews were on scene for just over 8 hours and cleared the scene at 7:49am.

The hay and debris piles will be producing smoke for many days and passerby’s shouldn’t be alarmed if they see smoke coming from the area where the barn once stood.

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