A large barn fire broke out early Friday morning at Nowakowski Farms, a locale eminent for its sweet corn, near Hazel Dell Road and Highway Drive in McLoud. KFOR reports that the McLoud Fire Department responded around 3 a.m. to find the structure fully consumed by the blaze. Efforts to contain the inferno were forestalled by its magnitude, leading firefighters to await its diminishment before commencing an investigation.
"We’re kind of just waiting it out at this point, we expect that this roof is going to collapse at any point," Captain Richard Salzar confidently told KFOR. Unfortunately, the barn and the agricultural contrivances housed within are believed to be unsalvageable. Although the cause of the fire remains to be unearthed, no casualties have been reported in the incident.
The decision to not battle the fire with water was made in consideration of local resources. McLoud Fire Chief Josh Jenkins expressed concerns to OKC FOX about the precious water supply, saying, "I don't want to take water away from 500 homes to put a barn fire out." His statement reflects the balancing act rural fire departments must sometimes perform when allocating limited resources during emergencies.
Visible from three miles away, the fire's intensity was such that, even describe being felt by, KOCO 5 crews could feel the heat emanating from the inferno's core. According to an interview with the authorities, KOCO 5 was informed that a partial roof collapse occurred and multiple tractors, along with other farming equipment and hay, were destroyed. The crews are holding off on interior operations for safety reasons, waiting for the roof to fully collapse before dousing the structure with water. Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire as they sift through the debris. Meanwhile, Nowakowski Farms and the McLoud community are dealing with the loss of an important agricultural asset.
