HENRIETTA TWP. — A large fire this morning completely destroyed a large maintenance workshop at Born Implement in Henrietta Township.
At least six fire departments responded to 11645 Gifford Road, and a large cloud of dark smoke could be seen for miles around.
No one was hurt in the fire, although several loud explosions as the barn burned made for some tense moments for onlookers.
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Owner Howard Born said workers in another building on the property noticed smoke a little after 10 a.m. and called 911.
The building, which Born said had been one story and approximately 120 feet by 60 feet, was a workshop where employees serviced farm equipment Born sells.
Born said two loud explosions as firefighters battled the blaze were likely drums of used motor oil. The first explosion sent several large flaming chunks of the barn flying through the air, one landing close to one group of firefighters. The second sent a large cloud of flaming gases into the sky just over onlookers’ heads.
Paul Opalenik of Birmingham, a local photographer who was snapping pictures at the scene, was splattered with little flecks of oil in the first blast. His camera lens was splattered as well, prompting him to call it a day.
A crowd of about a dozen people, some of them Born employees and some of them wearing Born Implement sweatshirts milled around the fire scene, many of them on cell phones.
Howard Born could do little but watch and field a constant stream of cell phone calls from friends and family as word about the fire spread.
“How am I feeling?” he repeated to one caller. “Awe, hell …” he responded, apparently at a loss for words.
But Born was keeping things in perspective.
“My son was killed three years ago in a bad car wreck,” he said. “After that, I deal with problems in a different way.
“This is a material thing that can be fixed,” he said. “It’s awful, but thank God nobody was hurt.
Firefighters from South Amherst, Amherst, Vermilion and Florence, Camden and Rochester townships responded.
Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.
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