No injuries, casualties in fire that engulfs pole barn, three vehicles on Broomfield Road
A fire that engulfed a pole barn on E. Broomfield Road about six miles east of Mount Pleasant Saturday was extinguished by Shepherd and Saginaw Chippewa Tribal fire departments.
There were no casualties or injuries.
The cause of the fire, which occurred at about 2:30 p.m., is still unknown, according to Jon Kujat, a Shepherd Fire Department firefighter. Residents of the nearby home watched from an open garage door as firefighters soaked the charred remains about 40 feet from them. Ash fell from the sky like snow.
"The siding on the house behind it is bubbled out from the heat," Kujat said.
Kujat said when they arrived, the building was already consumed by flame and black smoke. Kujat said it took about an hour to extinguish.
Three vehicles, an all-terrain vehicle, gun ammunition, oxygen and acetylene tanks were also lost in the fire. The hood of one vehicle was melted. The make or model of the vehicles could not be determined visually. Stacks of unburned tires sat near one of the blackened vehicles.
Police blockaded Broomfield Road about half a mile in either direction of the scene. Curious neighbors stood at the end of their driveways.
“Unfortunately the building is a total loss,” Kujat said. “At least nobody was injured.”
Kujat also works for CMU in occupational safety, health and emergency management. He said the smoke from the fire could be seen five miles away as they were en route.
