Barn on North Road in Groton catches fire, collapses
Groton — A barn at 53 North Road that was once part of a large family farm caught fire, collapsed and burned down shortly before 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
No animals were inside, and there were no injuries.
The barn belonged to Ted Ackley Jr., who died in December at age 82, said his cousin, Alan Ackley, who serves on the board of directors for the Poquonnock Bridge Fire District.
The barn had been in the Ackley family since the early 1900s, Alan Ackley said.
The fire, reported at 3:44 p.m., sent smoke into a small neighborhood of clustered homes and nearby trailer park, and people stepped outside to see what was happening.
The structure was "fully engulfed" when firefighters arrived, Poquonnock Bridge Fire Chief Joseph Winski said.
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Robert Walker said he was looking out his bedroom window when he saw a tiny flame at the top of the barn and thought someone was working inside.
“It started off like a little candle,” he said. “And then it was just a corner of the roof, and I thought, ‘That definitely wasn’t right.’”
Walker said he’d seen a woman with several lambs near the barn during summer, and he ran outside yelling because he feared they might be inside.
“It exploded like, real quick, not even under a second,” Walker said of the barn. “By the time I put my shoes on, the whole barn was on fire.”
He couldn’t get close, he said, adding, “It was way too hot."
Alan Ackley said Ted Ackley’s daughter lives near the barn and has owned goats, but kept them elsewhere on the property. He said the barn was only used for storage.
Firefighters expected to remain at the site of the 50-by-60 foot barn for much of the night.
“Right now the building has collapsed and it’s pancaked itself,” Winski said. “So you’ve got several layers and there’s fire underneath.”
Fire personnel from Groton City, Mystic, Old Mystic and the Submarine Base Fire Department assisted at the scene, as well as Groton Ambulance and Lawrence + Memorial Hospital paramedics.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
d.straszheim@theday.com
Twitter: @DStraszheim
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