Two large barn fires burning simultaneously in Duneland on Friday forced local fire departments to scramble for help.

The first fire was reported initially at 3:15 p.m. at 258 W. U.S. Highway 6 in Liberty Township. The second, at 3:59 p.m. at 1347 N. Brummitt Road in Westchester Township. In the end assistance was provided from as far as Cass Clinton Township, near Wanatah in LaPorte County, as lack of nearby hydrants and—at the Liberty scene—lack of easy access severely impeded firefighters’ efforts.

The Liberty fire was discovered by a Burns Harbor firefighter who spotted smoke coming from a barn located at the end of a single-lane road off U.S. 6 approximately one-half mile in length, Fire Chief Bill Branham of the Liberty Township Volunteer Fire Department said. That road proved a choke point for apparatus, Branham said, and made the necessary tanker shuttle—from hydrants at the old Fitness Barn and at other locations along U.S. 6—that much more difficult to implement.

“In the end we had pretty nearly every tanker from the north end of the county at the scene,” Branham said, and fully 65,000 gallons of water were used to extinguish the blaze.

Branham estimated total damage to structure and contents at $100,000, as the 60’ x 40’ barn contained two or three tractors, a passenger car, and numerous antiques, among other things.

The Porter Fire Investigation Strike Team is investigating the fire. At this point investigators believe the fire to be accidental, Branham said, possibly the result of a brush fire on the property which spread to the barn. The property owner was not at the scene, however, and Branham was unable to say what may have caused the grass fire.

No one was injured in the blaze. The LTVFD cleared the scene midnight.

Meanwhile, at 3:59 p.m.—less than an hour after the LTVFD responded to the scene off U.S. Highway 6—the Chesterton Fire Department was dispatched to its own barn fire on North Brummitt Road.

For the CFD the immediate problem was that every tanker in Duneland—including its own—had responded to the other barn fire, Fire Chief Mike Orlich told the Tribune. At first, accordingly, the CFD was forced to run not a shuttle of tankers—each with a water capacity of at least 1,800 gallons—but one instead of engines, whose capacity is significantly less at 750 gallons. Water was obtained from a hydrant located near LaPorte Savings Bank at 851 Indian Boundary Road.

Departments assisting the CFD: Pine Township with a tanker; Beverly Shores with an engine and brush truck; Porter with two engines, since its tanker had responded to the other barn fire; Cool Springs Township and Cass Clinton Township in LaPorte County with tankers and engines; and—after being released from the other barn fire—Boone Grove and Washington Township with tankers.

Orlich added that National Park Service firefighters responded to the scene as well after several brush fires were ignited on land near the barn.

The 60’ x 40’ barn itself was essentially destroyed, Orlich said, with damage to the structure estimated at $15,000 and that to contents at $10,000. Firefighters did manage to keep the main residence—only 15 to 20 feet away from the barn—from burning as well.

The cause of the fire remains undetermined.

A cat perished in the blaze and a Porter firefighter sustained an ankle injury and was transported to Porter hospital for treatment, Orlich said.

Posted 11/16/2009