Goats killed, pole barn destroyed in Darien fire

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Fire fighters arrive on scene to battle a fire in a pole barn along Old Highway 89 in Darien early on Jan. 27. Terry Mayer/Darien Fire Department photo

Fire crew members battling the blaze at a pole barn at N3340 Old Highway 89 in Darien. Fire officials determined heat lamps caused the fire. Terry Mayer/Darien Fire Department photo

DARIEN—Heat lamps used to keep goats warm caused a fire that destroyed a pole barn and killed a couple goats early Thursday morning at N3340 Old Highway 89, according to a Darien Fire Department news release.

Firefighters from more than a dozen departments in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois responded to a report of a barn fire at 12:40 a.m. and were just clearing the scene around 4 a.m., said Chief Justin Schuenke.

Upon arrival they found a 40- by 60-foot pole barn fully engulfed in flames, he said.

The fire was extinguished a half hour later but not before destroying the shed, valued at $50,000, and killing a couple adult goats, “that either just had or were going to have babies,” Schuenke said.

“That was the purpose of the heat lamps,” he said.

One firefighter, experiencing breathing difficulty, was taken to a local medical facility for treatment, Schuenke said.

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