Fire officials respond to barn fire in Hadley

HADLEY, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- New developments on breaking news from Monday, where a barn was destroyed by fire in North Hadley.

The 911 call came in at 9:18 p.m. on Monday, and Western Mass News obtained shocking and horrifying video from a neighbor.

“We had crews respond right away from our new north station. Our call firefighters, they were there within under 10 minutes, by the time everyone got there, the barn was fully involved,” Hadley Fire Department Deputy Chief Evan Briant said.

Briant said that extinguishing the blaze was a four-hour-long collaborative effort, including backup assistance from several local police and fire units and investigative support from the state.

“Sunderland fire and Amherst fire to the scene. We had about 30 guys on scene, and we also had Northampton fire covering the town. We also had UMass police assist Hadley police with road closures, and we also had Mass State Police with the fire investigative unit respond,” Briant said.

Briant said that the threat of fires increased in the winter months, but usually due to chimney usage or brush fires, which were not the cause in this case.

“Unspecified event that happened on a motor vehicle that was stored in the garage that caused the fire,” Briant explained.

He went on to say that the age of the structure may have played a role in how fast the flames spread.

“In the town of Hadley, we have a lot of tobacco barns still up that are dry wood, heavy timber, and they go up so quickly,” Briant said.

Although a dangerously close call, the house nearby was not engulfed in flames, and while there were no injuries or fatalities, this is still a devastating loss for the property owners who did not wish to be interviewed.