EAST NEWPORT — The old Otto Produce potato storage house on the corner of Route 2 and the Eastville Road — once the focal point for the shipment of potatoes to market — was destroyed by fire early Wednesday morning.

Five area fire departments fought the fire, which at one point could be seen in Detroit and South Plymouth. Destroyed along with the building, which was owned by Keith Bates and Mary Brooker, were its contents, including tools, furniture and excess appliances from the nearby Bates Bargain Market. Also lost was a pickup truck parked nearby.

The fire was discovered by a resident of a nearby home. Bates said the building was not insured.

A telephone pole, transformer and a three-phase power line to the building also were on fire when firefighters arrived. Water was brought to the scene via tankers from a nearby farm pond.

First Assistant Chief Donald King said the cause of the fire was unknown and was under investigation. He said the barn was engulfed in flames when trucks from the Newport Fire Department arrived about 12:15 a.m.

One Newport firefighter was treated at Sebasticook Valley Hospital for heat exhaustion and was released.

A crew remained on the scene until 6 a.m., King said. The ruins continued to smoke Wednesday afternoon, although little debris was scattered about, most of it having fallen inside the high concrete walls of the building’s foundation.

The storage facility had been used in recent years as a potato house by Newport farmer Seth Bradstreet. Since it was prominently located next to the Maine Central Railroad tracks, King speculated that “it must have served a vital purpose at one time. It’s been there a long, long time.”

Area people recalled when local potato farmers brought their harvest to the facility to be loaded into freight cars for marketing.