
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 6, 1990                   TAG: 9007060377
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By New River Valley bureau
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HEAT MAKES FIGHTING BARN FIRE DIFFICULT

About 25 firefighters, battling extreme heat and dehydration Thursday, worked in 10-minute shifts while battling a fire that destroyed a large storage barn in the Alleghany community of Floyd County. The 5 p.m. blaze may have been started by electrical problems in the 12-by-60-foot wooden barn on Virginia 653, said Chief Sammy Vest of the Locust Grove Fire Department in Floyd County.

Most of the barn was destroyed, including part of the structure that was being used as a smokehouse for hams, Vest said.

The barn was owned by M.R. Light of Shawsville.

Because of 90-degree temperatures and the heat of the flames, firefighters had to wear air packs and could fight the blaze only for short periods at a time. A valve on one of the seven trucks at the scene was opened to douse firefighters after they took their turn.

The Elliston Volunteer Fire Department was called in to assist because of the heat.

by CNB