Fire, above, destroys a barn and damages other buildings on the property of the Gene and Shirleen Claborn at 25934 Old Holley Road Sunday afternoon. Firefighters responded at 5:11 p.m. to the blaze, which burned a barn containing 1,000 bales of dry hay, according to a Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance report.
The cause of the blaze has not been identified, SHFAD spokeswoman Diane Shank said, but the Claborns’ 13-year-old granddaughter was the first to notice the fire, which, a SHFAD report noted, may have begun in an area where loose hay had been piled next to an electric fence charging unit.
The Claborns’ son, David, and his wife, Kari, lived in an apartment damaged by the fire. David and his daughter were home when the fire broke out, said cousin and neighbor Chanz Keeney, who lives next door. No one was injured. Shank said pre-incident estimated values of the losses total $300,000. A total of 11 apparatus and 30 SHFAD personnel responded to the blaze.
Assisting Sweet Home were Brownsville, Halsey, Lebanon and the Oregon Department of Forestry. Neighbor Brad Newport provided an excavator to break apart stored hay. Water tenders filled up at hydrants inside the city limits. The last Sweet Home unit left the scene at 10:53 p.m., but the fire flared up again early Monday, and firefighters responded to extinguish that. At right, a firefighter hoses down a propane tank as intensely heated air simmers above him. Below, firefighters set up a portable reservoir tank so tankers can unload their water and return to town for replenishments.