The barn that burned today, in happier times.

UPDATE, 11:52 a.m.: Property owner Mary Jean Hemphill Cronan, a very kind older woman, said she hadn’t been down to the barn in probably 15 years. In that time the berry bushes have cut off virtually all access to where the barn once stood on her five-acre property. “My dad kept them down, but I never did,” Cronan said.

Her late father had used the barn for storage and wood. She said she’d heard rumors that there has been transient activity in the area but wasn’t sure. She brought out a picture of the barn taken in the ‘90s to show us.

— Andrew Goff

###

Photos: Andrew Goff

UPDATE, 11:13 a.m.: Firefighters had to chainsaw through 30 feet of berry bushes to get at the fire, only to find that their hose wouldn’t reach. They’ve brought in an extension.

The barn has burned to the ground.

###

Humboldt Bay Fire is currently hacking and chainsawing its way through blackberry bushes in an attempt to get at a burning barn near the greenbelt behind Zane Middle School, off of S Street in Eureka. 

Outpost reporter Andrew Goff is bushwhacking along with the firefighters. We’ll have updates soon.