Barn fire in Penn Township prompts sizable response from area fire departments
Fire departments from across, and well beyond, Butler County were called to a raging fire at a barn on Powell Road in Penn Township on Wednesday morning, Oct. 22.
The fire was first reported at 243 Powell Road at 9:30 a.m., and a second alarm followed shortly thereafter. At its peak, black smoke could be seen over the treeline from miles away.
According to secondhand information from multiple eyewitnesses, including family friend Erika Cascio, the blaze started when farm equipment in the barn caught fire and ignited hay. The structure has been described as a “total loss.”
At 10:19 a.m., dispatch reports indicated a firefighter might have been “down” due to a partial collapse of the structure. The firefighter was treated for minor injuries on the scene.
Firefighters struggled throughout the morning to get enough water to fight the fire. Around 11 a.m., the fire had spread to a nearby silo.
The response to the fire prompted the closure of Powell Road at Pittsburgh and Brownsdale Roads for hours.
Responding to the scene were volunteer fire departments from Penn Township, Saxonburg, Butler Township, Prospect Boro/Franklin Township, Adams Area, and Middlesex Township, Buffalo Township, along with the Butler Ambulance Service, with other departments called in from Allegheny and Beaver counties.
