A fire late Friday night near Pleasant View destroyed a hay shed and caused $93,000 of damage, according to a report from Montezuma County Sheriff’s deputy Jared Farnsworth.
Emergency personnel responded to the fire at the 21000 block of County Road 18 just before 11 p.m. on Friday, the report states.
A 90-by-60-foot hay shed was engulfed in flames when Farnsworth arrived on scene, and the structure was “distorting, warping, and changing color on all sides,” he said in the report.
There were no people or livestock animals in the structure, the report states.
Pleasant View Fire Chief Jeff Yoder said Monday the fire’s cause has not been determined. About 16 firefighters were on scene from the Pleasant View department, as well as a few from the Lewis-Arriola department, he said.
Firefighters were on scene until 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, and the last person left the scene at 7 a.m., he said.
This is the second structure fire in the area in the past week. A Jan. 31 fire destroyed a barn on County Road 22 near Lewis-Arriola.
Yoder said hot farm equipment can be dangerous if left too close to hay.
“My suggestion would be to park your equipment quite a ways away from the hay,” he said.
In addition to the destroyed barn, the property owner reported damage to farm equipment and 180 bales of hay for a total of about $93,000, according to Farnsworth’s report.