Fire destroys pole barn on Huntingburg property

Huntingburg Firefighters were called to a structure fire on North Cherry Street Sunday afternoon.

According to Assistant Chief Scott Patberg, the call was received a little after 4 p.m., and responders were on scene within about four minutes. Upon arrival, they found a 40-by-68-foot pole barn structure in the back of the property fully involved “from one end of the building to the other.”

“It was a heavy fire. The roof was already coming down,” Patberg said.

The structure contained several vehicles, equipment, tools and a car lift. Patberg said the lofts at both ends of the building were full of material that fueled the fire and allowed it to spread quickly.

“The building was surrounded by vehicles,” the fire chief explained, noting that Triple T Excavating was called to provide assistance in moving vehicles away from the structure and to spread material out so firefighters could address hotspots.

According to Patberg, one of the property’s owners reported they had been working in the building prior to the fire.

“He said he was in the garage working on the truck that was on a lift, and he went up to the house,” Patberg said. “When he come back out, the garage was burning.”

Flames spread beyond the main structure, igniting one vehicle parked directly behind the building near a rear door. Firefighters extinguished this secondary fire while working to contain the main blaze.

Jasper responded with an aerial truck and ten firefighters under the recently approved mutual aid agreement between the two cities. Under this arrangement, both departments automatically respond to working structure fires in either city.

Huntingburg deployed 16 to 18 firefighters with three engines, one rescue truck, and an aerial ladder truck. A fourth engine remained on standby.

Patberg also called for an additional tanker from the St. Anthony Volunteer Fire Department to provide water support due to uncertainty about hydrant locations, but crews discovered an adequate water supply at the scene. St. Anthony remained on standby to handle any medical emergencies during the firefighting operation, though none occurred.

Patberg reported that the building and contents were a total loss.