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Barn goes up in flames in Northwood

Firefighters from the Northwood, Rossford and Lake Township fire departments responded.

NORTHWOOD, OH (Toledo News Now) - Fire officials are investigating after a pole barn caught fire Sunday evening.

The fire started sometime after 9 p.m. on E. Andrus Road in Northwood at a barn on vacant property.

Firefighters from the Northwood, Rossford and Lake Township fire departments responded, along with several other mutual aid departments, and did not clear the scene until Monday afternoon.

Northwood Fire Chief Joel Whitmore says although the property was vacant, the barn had things inside, including flammable fluids.

"It was a barn, actually a series of barns, that had a lot of old cars, oil drums, gas cylinders," Chief Whitmore said.

Those flammable contents were the firefighters' biggest concern. They wanted to make sure neighbors in the area were not in danger, or that the fluids were hazardous to the area.

As they were fighting the fire, the barn collapsed. Neighbors say they heard loud explosions when the fire broke out.

"It was just this big bang, and then after that one happened, it would just keep going, and you would just hear more loud bangs," said neighbor Noah Bloom.

Joseph Fuller lives across the street from where the fire happened. he says he was sitting on his porch when it started.

"I'm glad I don't live down that close to it," Fuller said. "If I'd have been next door...Thank God there's nothing around that house."

Chief Whitmore says the fluids in the barn were not hazardous. Another big challenge for firefighters was their water supply.

"We didn't have any hydrants right nearby, so we had to rely on mutual aid tankers to come in and bring water to us," he said.

Mutual aid departments also brought a foam rig from the oil refinery in Toledo to assist in putting out the flames.

It has not been specified at this time if any people or animals were in the barn at the time of the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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