GILEAD TOWNSHIP, MI (WTVB) – Lightning is being blamed as the probable cause of a barn fire in Gilead Township Thursday morning which led to the deaths of two horses and damages totaling $100,000.
Bronson Fire Chief Brent Wilber says the fire at the Gordon and Michelle Elliot property at 503 Slisher Road was reported just before 3:30am.
The fire was called under control just over a half hour after it was reported.
Firefighters were on the scene for about three hours.
Lakeland firefighters provided mutual aid to Bronson crews with two tankers and nine firefighters.
Wilber says the west end of the 60 by 100 foot barn was fully engulfed in flames within minutes of the lightning hit. The fire spread quickly and an attempt was made to get the two horses out of the barn but the fire, heat and smoke were too intense for anyone to get close to the structure.
Among the items lost in the barn were a tractor, a combine, a motorcycle, 100 bales of hay and two new pony carts.
Firefighters managed to protect several other nearby buildings including the Elliot home as well as a horse trailer. Wilber says the losses are covered by insurance.
