LINDSEY BLEST | Staff WriterA fire destroyed a barn being renovated into a wedding venue on a Providence Township property late Wednesday.
The blaze started just before 11 p.m. at 64 Snyder Hollow Road. According to maps, the property is a bed and breakfast called French Country Manor.
Work was being done on the barn to renovate it into a wedding venue, according to David Reese, deputy chief of Willow Street Fire Company.
Inside the barn were materials for the renovations including ladders and scaffolding, he said. The barn was a "total loss" after the fire, which was ruled under control just after 12:30 a.m.
Reese estimated the damage at $800,000 for the barn and the adjacent house — which sustained exterior damage to electrical equipment, siding and solar panels on the side closest to the barn, Reese said.
The fire was upgraded to a second alarm because of a lack of water on the rural road, Reese said. Tankers brought in water and shuttled more water from Smithville Pond, he said.
About two dozen fire units were on scene.
The fire started from discarded paint rags in a container, Reese said. Spontaneous combustion was likely caused by the oil pant rags in a closed container, he said.
No one was injured. A neighbor alerted the sleeping residents to the fire, Reese said.
