Fire destroyed this barn Sunday afternoon in West Donegal Township.
Spontaneous combustion on a hot summer day was blamed for a hay fire Sunday afternoon that gutted a 19th-century stone and wood barn in West Donegal Township.
About 75 firefighters fought the blaze, which was reported at 2:52 p.m. at 2944 Bossler Road.
The barn was fully involved when the first firefighters from Rheems Fire Department arrived.
In addition to the hay, several boats in a rental-storage section of the barn were destroyed, according to Charles Stanford, Rheems fire chief.
The fire also melted some siding on an adjacent farmhouse.
Both the barn and the farmhouse are owned by Steve Hershey, who lives on an adjacent farm.
A state fire marshal, Trooper Brian Herr, was called to the scene and estimated damage at $250,000, Stanford said.
It took firefighters 45 minutes to bring the fire under control. They were on the scene for more than five hours and had to take the barn apart to extinguish all the hay. Water was siphoned from a nearby creek.
In addition to Rheems, firefighters responded from Mount Joy, Bainbridge, Elizabethtown, Maytown, Columbia, Manheim, Mastersonville, Marietta and Middletown.