Scores of firefighters from across Otsego and Chenango counties fought a blaze at the Curtis Lumber store near New Berlin on Tuesday that destroyed a storage barn.
A store clerk said the blaze erupted shortly after 3 p.m. in Building 6, which is a barn used as a warehouse to store insulation, steel panels, vinyl siding, garage doors, shingles, specialty cedar and other materials.
The building was described by fire officials as a 60-foot-by-200-foot pole barn and is one of several buildings at Curtis Lumber on county Route 18.
Although the store has a New Berlin address, it is located beyond the eastern edge of the village in the Otsego County town of Pittsfield.
Dwayne Jackson, second assistant chief of the Pittsfield Fire Department, said the blaze quickly engulfed the barn, but firefighters were able to prevent it from spreading to the other buildings.
Jackson said the contents of the building largely consisted of material that was not very flammable, which helped in the effort to contain the blaze. But the building was a total loss, with only a portion of it left standing, he said.
"There was not very much left," Jackson said. "We didn't do a lot of salvage."
No injuries were reported.
Firefighters from nine Otsego County departments and five Chenango County departments responded to the blaze. There were at least 100 firefighters on the scene, Jackson said.
"Everything went pretty good," Jackson said.
Temperatures in the single digits proved challenging but did not hinder the attack on the fire, Jackson said.
"We did a pretty good job of containing the ice," he said.
The cause remains undetermined, Jackson said.
Firefighters returned to their stations at about 9 p.m.
According to county emergency officials, fire investigators were expected to be at the scene at 9 a.m. today.
Otsego County fire departments responding included Pittsfield, Garrattsville, Gilbertsville, West Edmeston, West Laurens, West Oneonta, West Exeter, Morris and Laurens. New Berlin, South New Berlin, Mt. Upton, Norwich and Sherburne fire departments responded from Chenango County. Several other departments were on standby.
Store manager John Sheldon did not immediately return a call Tuesday afternoon for comment.
Curtis Lumber is a family-owned lumber, building and home improvement business that has 22 locations in New York and Vermont.
