Fire companies from seven municipalities responded to a storage barn fire in the 1200 block of Mercer Road in Frenchcreek Township on Saturday night, but their arrival was too late to save the building and its contents.
There were no reports of injuries.
Tim Rust, captain of the Sandycreek Township Fire Department, on Sunday afternoon said the fire is believed to have started in the area of the building’s wood-burning stove.
On Saturday night, Sandycreek Deputy Chief Charlie Hoovler said the barn had been consumed with “heavy fire” by the time firefighters arrived at about 9:30, forcing them to immediately go into “defensive operations.”
Neighborhood residents, standing near the fire scene with the evening temperature dipping into the upper 20s, watched as firefighters sprayed water around the area surrounding the structure, which is located close to homes and woods.
Flames could be seen shooting as high as tall treetops in the area near the single-story building.
Neighbor Ralph Roberts said part of the surrounding area – about 20 yards north of the building and the direction in which the wind was blowing – includes fallen pine that is dry.
Firefighters worked to ensure a steady flow of water, as tanker trucks left the scene one at time and then returned with refilled tanks.
Before anyone realized a fire had broken out, some neighbors said they thought it was strange to observe brightness in the night sky at about 9:15 p.m.
Then, they said, they heard explosions. One of the neighbors then called Venango County 911.
As onlookers gathered along the side of Mercer Road, neighbor Melanie Krneta began to fear for the safety of the property owner, 68-year-old Lester Adams, and began to ask bystanders of his whereabouts.
“I asked everybody, ‘Where’s Lester? Has anybody seen Lester?’ Nobody said they did,” Krneta said.
She then ran about a quarter-mile north on Mercer Road to Adams’ home.
“As soon as I saw him, I just threw my arms around him and hugged him and said, ‘Thank God you’re OK.’ He didn’t even know that his building was on fire,” Krneta said.
When Adams arrived near the scene, all he could do was watch in disbelief as the building burned on his nearly 30-acre property.
When Hoovler was told there were two cats that routinely occupy the building, he said he saw no signs of any animals and the cats likely escaped as the building is an “open structure.”
On Sunday morning, Adams confirmed his cats are alive and that he kept the fire going for them on Saturday as the evening temperature dropped.
“I don’t know what happened,” Adams said Sunday. “I had the fire banked down and shut down the air flow to the fire.”
Adams, who worked at Polk State Center before his retirement, said the blaze cost him thousands of dollars worth of equipment and antiques, and he has no insurance on the property.
In addition, Adams, who aspires to be a garlic farmer and had accumulated about 5,000 heads of garlic, said almost all of his garlic was lost in the fire.
Adams said the garlic should already have been planted, but the ground has been too saturated.
“It took me years to gather them. Now, it’s back to square one,” he said.
For now, Adams said his main concern is cleanup and the welfare of his two cats.
“I’m just really worried how they’ll stay warm this winter,” he said. “The building, well, it’s only money. What’s more important is there was no loss (of life).”
The blaze led to the closure of Mercer Road – from its junction with Route 8 to Georgetown Road -from about 9:30 p.m. Saturday to about 1:45 a.m. Sunday, according to 911. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation applied salt to the closed portion of the road at about 12:30 a.m.
In addition to Sandycreek, which was first on the scene, fire companies from Polk, Franklin, Rocky Grove, Reno, Utica and Seneca also responded. Other fire companies were on standby.
