Firefighters from the Houston Rural Fire Department responded late last Wednesday afternoon to a fire that burned down a cattle barn on Highway Z at Simmons.
Five personnel and a pumper, tanker and brush truck went to the scene after the call came in at about 4:15 p.m.
The fire consumed the barn and damaged several pieces of equipment related to handling cattle.
The man who lives at the location told Houston Rural officials that he came out to the barn to do some work and found it burning. He speculated that the blaze might have been due to a lightning strike during stormy weather the previous night.
Two other recent incidents resulted in responses from area fire departments:
• The Roby Fire Department was called around 3 a.m. Saturday to a structure fire at 14794 Highway AA at Ellis Prairie.
• The Licking Fire Department was called around 11 p.m. last Friday to Bean Creek Road, where a tree was blocking the road and the township couldn’t be reached.