Barn in Trenton destroyed by grass fire

TRENTON – A small wooden barn burned to the ground Tuesday afternoon when a grass fire grew out of control and consumed the building, said Steve Corson of the Trenton Fire Department.

The barn on Bayside Road was owned by Olin Conary. Although it burned just a few yards from Conary’s home, neither the wooden house nor a small, tin-roofed shed adjacent to the barn caught fire.

The Fire Department received a call from Conary about 3:30 p.m. A dozen firefighters from Trenton and an additional eight-person crew from Lamoine had the blaze under control in about 10 minutes. The pile of debris continued to smolder for about an hour.

A call to the Ellsworth Fire Department for mutual aid was canceled shortly after it was broadcast.

No one was injured in the fire.

An investigator from the Maine Forest Service inspected the scene and will enter his official judgment in the next few days. Firefighters at the scene suspect that Conary’s attempt to control a small fire – without a burn permit, or supervision – ignited the dry grass, and then the barn, Corson said.