Firefighters spent almost seven hours fighting a blaze at a barn in Millinocket Tuesday morning, but the barn could not be saved, and two horses that were inside died.
The Millinocket Fire Department was called to 3 Station Road at about 7:49 a.m. where they found a barn fully ablaze with fire spreading to the nearby home, Millinocket Fire Chief Jonathan Cote said in a news release.
The property is owned by James Kelley.
East Millinocket, Medway, Lincoln, Howland, Mattawamkeag, Sherman and Brownville assisted, and a total of 30 firefighters worked at the scene, Cote said. Maine Forest Service set up a portable pump in a nearby stream and in Kelley’s pool.
Crews were able to salvage some of Kelley’s items and return them to him, but the barn was a complete loss and the home was significantly damaged, Cote said.
No firefighters or others were injured. Two horses that were inside the barn during the fire died.
The cause of the fire was a faulty horse water tank heater that shorted out and spread into the outside walls of the barn, Cote said.