Preston – A vacant chicken coop burned to the ground on Wednesday outside a home at 228 Route 165.

Firefighters from Preston City and Poquetanuck fire departments were called out at 4:47 p.m. and arrived to find the 20-by-20-foot outbuilding fully engulfed in flames, said Preston Fire Marshal Tom Casey.

Firefighters stopped the flames from spreading to nearby buildings with help from the water supplied by Griswold and Voluntown fire department tankers.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The property is owned by Warren and Shelly Lynn Maskell, town records show.