MOUNT VERNON — Four tractors, shop tools and other machinery, and straw were lost in a barn fire at 1325 Sharp Road this morning. The fire was at the Robert VanHorn home, about one mile south of Ohio 661.
The VanHorns discovered the fire when their dog started barking and they heard an explosion, according to Mount Vernon Fire Department Capt. Dave Mills. When the alarm sounded at 3:19 a.m., the MVFD called for mutual aid for water tank trucks from College, Utica and Centerburg departments. However, Mills said that when they arrived the roof had already caved in.
The fire engines were lined up in the short driveway in front of the VanHorn home, and firefighters had to drag hose lines 400 feet to the barn. Firefighters did save a farm wagon that was outside the 30-by-40-foot, two-story frame structure. To douse the rest of the fire, Mills said firefighters pumped 10,000 gallons of water into the barn. Fire investigators were on the scene this morning to determine the cause of the fire. An estimate of the damage has not been made.
