Nine rural fire departments battled a blaze that leveled a barn on the Oconto-Shawano county line Wednesday afternoon.
No one was injured in the barn fire at Kuhn Farms, W13605 Deering Road in the town of Underhill, although about three head of cattle, a sow and piglets perished in the fire, Underhill Fire Chief Mark Winkler said Thursday.
Heavy smoke from hay and straw stored in the barn hampered the effort, Winkler said.
“Anyone who’s familiar with hay knows how much smoke it gives out,” he said. “It really hampered our ability to get at the fire. There was just so much smoke.”
The call came in at 4:51 p.m., and crews stayed at the scene until about 10:15 p.m.
The farm had previous issues with a breaker box, and there was evidence the fire started there, Winkler said.