$5,000 worth of tobacco burns in barn fire
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on October 5, 2016 2:33 PM
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News-Argus/SETH COMBS
New Hope Fire Department Chief Donald Gray lost $5,000 worth of tobacco to a fire in a tobacco barn on his farm Wednesday morning.
Gray said he was at the New Hope fire station when his pager went off to alert him there was a fire at his property -- 611 Mark Edwards Road.
"I have no idea how it started," Gray said. "The tobacco had been cured already, so it might have been caused by an electrical shortage or spontaneous combustion."
Gray's wife, Sam, said there are 30 barns of tobacco on the property, and only one of them caught on fire Wednesday morning just after 10.
The property where the tobacco barns sit was coated with a thick, light brown and dark gray as the fire rolled through the eight boxes of tobacco contained within the barn that caught fire.
Firefighters worked furiously to extinguish the fire before it could spread into any other barns near the one that caught on fire.
The air in the breezeway between the barns of tobacco had stagnated between the barns, floor and roof and packed the air with a sweet, acrid smell similar to that of a lit cigar.
Gray said the barn that burned was worth anywhere from $6,000 to $7,000, and that he had insurance on the barn but not the tobacco that burned.
"I guess we'll have to absorb the loss on the tobacco," Gray said.
Gray said his department was alerted to the fire when a worker on the farm called 911.
"I didn't panic too bad," Gray said of the moment his pager went off and his address popped up. "I wanted to get here as fast as possible and see what was going on."
Mrs. Gray said the farm also has corn, peanuts, beans, wheat, turkeys and hogs to sustain it in the face of losing one barn of tobacco to a fire.
"It kind of makes your heart sink," said Gray's brother, Capt. Jason Gray.
Firefighters with three different departments had the fire under control just before 11 a.m. Wednesday, and rivers of burnt tobacco and dark-colored water filled the dirt around the property.
New Hope Fire Department, Saulston Volunteer Fire Department and El-Roy Volunteer Fire Department all responded to the scene.