WINCHENDON – A barn at 50 Old Center was destroyed in a three-alarm fire Saturday evening.
Winchendon Fire Chief Thomas Smith said the fire was reported shortly after 8 p.m. and crews from Winchendon and other area departments were on scene until shortly after midnight Sunday morning. Damage was limited to the barn, he said.
“We were able to keep it from causing any damage to the house,” Smith said on Sunday. “We worked with the building inspector, wiring inspector and got the power back on to the residents overnight so that they could get back into the house.”
Smith said the cause remains under investigation. No injuries were reported and the ducks and chickens housed in the barn, which dates to the 1850s, were safely evacuated.
Units from Gardner, Templeton, Ashburnham, Westminster, Royalston, Hubbardston, Jaffrey and Rindge provided mutual aid. Water tenders from Troy, Richmond, Fitzwilliam and New Ipswich were staged at the scene. Winchendon’s fire station was covered by crews from Peterborough and Phillipston, with Phillipston personnel responding to a medical call during the fire.
According to a release from Winchendon Fire, “The Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s office and the District 8 Investigation Unit were notified and responded. The scene rehab unit also responded to assist firefighters at the scene.”