Cordele Dispatch, Cordele, GA

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August 25, 2008

Fire destroys barn, contents

BY PEGGY KING

peggy.king@gaflnews.com



ARABI - W. T. Greene isn’t sure what caused a Sunday night blaze in his hay barn on Arabi-Williford Rd. in South Crisp County, but he knows his losses are substantial.

Greene said he heard his dogs barking just before 6 p.m., and when his wife went out to investigate the cause for their alarm, she saw that the hay barn was on fire. He had just put his truck under the barn, so he said his first thought was to try and save the truck.

By the time he got to the barn, however, he said the fire was so hot that he couldn’t go inside. In the meantime, his wife had dialed 911, and she said dispatchers told her to stay away from the barn.

About that time, Greene said, there was an explosion that sounded like a bomb going off. Before the worst of the fire was over, there had been several explosions, he added.

“Everything I’ve needed today to work with,” Greene said, “was in my pickup truck.” The truck, along with a new tractor, hay baler, numerous large bales of hay and some other equipment were lost, in addition to the barn itself.

In fact, hay was continuing to smolder Monday afternoon, almost 24 hours after the initial blaze. Greene said he had no idea of the extent of his monetary losses.

Russell Ayotte with the Crisp County Fire Department said four units responded to the call to Greene’s barn which was “fully involved” when the units arrived on the scene about 6 p.m., he said.

It took about two and a half hours to contain the fire, Ayotte said, and a few fire fighters remained on the site three more hours to monitor the situation.

Cause of the fire was listed as spontaneous combustion caused by a chemical reaction; however, Greene said he is wondering if the tractor might be the culprit. “I’ve heard about several other similar tractors in the area that caught fire,” he said.

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