Delphos barn fire whipped up by wind

DELPHOS — A strong wind played havoc with three fire departments Monday afternoon west of Delphos as they battled a raging barn fire.Firefighters from Middle Point, Delphos and Ohio City also had to work without a water source. Tankers shuttled water 2.5 miles from Delphos’ nearest hydrant to a collapsible canvas reservoir set up beside the fire, near the corner of Delphos-Jennings and Bockey roads in Washington Township.The farm’s owner, Ray Bonifas, had recently sold the barn, and its new owner was dismantling the 40-by-80-foot structure for the heavy timbers, said George Bonifas, Ray’s father, adding his son was away at work when a neighbor spotted the flames around 1:20 p.m. and called 911.Middle Point Fire Chief Craig King and Delphos Fire Chief Dale Carder said it appeared people who were dismantling the barn Monday morning were burning wood scraps in a steel barrel to warm themselves. They left around lunchtime, and the stiff afternoon wind fanned the embers, Craig said.“Whoever was tearing the barn down lit something they shouldn’t have with this kind of wind,” Carder said.Using a tractor with a front-mounted forklift, George Bonifas picked apart a stack of burning timbers, hoisting a half-dozen at a time while an Ohio City firefighter doused them with a hose.Earlier, King said the burning heaps of manure and wood scraps would have to be pulled apart and hosed down the same way. He later determined it wasn’t necessary. “We just hosed them down thoroughly,” he said.Some of the blackened barn timbers are still salvageable, King said. “Some might be a little shorter now,” he added. A dollar estimate of the loss was not available Monday.Wind speeds were between 25 and 34 mph Monday afternoon, with gusts reaching 38 mph, according to National Weather Service weather spotters near Delphos and the Lima-Allen County Airport. The strong breeze sent embers sailing, King said. Firefighting teams were sent out to seek and destroy field fires. They reported three separate flare-ups in fields of dried cornstalks more than a half-mile downwind.You can comment on this story at www.limaohio.com.