VIDEO: Fire in Free Soil destroys pole barn, vehicles 

VIDEO: Fire in Free Soil destroys pole barn, vehicles 

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief

FREE SOIL — Fire destroyed a pole barn Friday morning in the Village of Free Soil. Fire units were initially dispatched to 2624 E. Blaine Street at 9:49 a.m. According to Free Soil/Meade Fire Department Chief Vince Williams, the 40-feet by 50-feet building was fully engulfed in flames when the fire department arrived, just a block away from the fire station. Williams said the fire had apparently been going for quite awhile before anyone discovered it and had already burned through the roof before 911 was called. Firefighters were on scene within a few minutes after being dispatched. 

The building is owned by Sue Smalley, who lives next door. Heat from the fire caused damage to her house’s siding. Smalley served on the Free Soil/Meade Fire Department for many years prior to retiring a few years ago. 

Electric lines from the building caused a hazard when they fell and blocked the eastern side of the street. 

Smalley said she had two vehicles in the garage, a Chevrolet Monte Carlo and a 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, which she and her late husband purchased when they got married. 

Emergency units responding included Free Soil/Meade Fire Department, Grant Township Fire Department, Fountain Area Fire Department, and Custer Fire Department. Also assisting on scene was Fountain Area Fire Department Auxiliary and Consumers Energy.