GREENE COUNTY, N.C. (WITN) – Eastern Carolina fire crews are fighting flames consuming a farm building off Highway 58 through the night.
Bull Head Fire Chief Josh Harrell says about 40,000 hay bales are tightly packed inside this Dawson Farm 200-foot metal sheet barn. Harrell says crews were called last night around 8:50 p.m.
The fire chief says the farm is about seven miles north of Snow Hill, and when they arrived, the barn was fully engulfed in flames. Harrell says crews couldn’t go inside because the barn was collapsing.
He told WITN one of the farm owners was taken to the hospital for minor injuries and a firefighter has been treated and released by EMS on scene for heat exhaustion.
WITN has crews out at the farm this morning, who say bean, wheat, and corn crops are grown on the land.
Throughout last night and into this morning, fire crews have been monitoring the blaze, and protecting everything around it.
The Bull Head Fire Department chief says once a bale is on fire, it is very difficult to put out. Harrell described the scene to WITN on the phone, saying crews can’t get close to the building for long due to heat radiating from flames.
The Snow Hill Rural Fire Department shared pictures to social media of crews fighting the barn blaze on the ground and above in the sky.
Harrell says they will investigate after fire containment is complete.
Multiple fire departments are assisting, including Snow Hill Rural Fire Department, Shine Fire & EMS, Castoria Rural Fire Association, and Fort Run Volunteer Fire & EMS, as well as crews from Wayne County.
Stay with WITN on air and online as this story develops
