Norwich — Although a Friday morning fire destroyed a barn at 202 N. Wawecus Hill Road, firefighters prevented it from impacting a house and other nearby buildings, East Great Plain volunteer fire Chief Keith Milton said.

Milton said the roughly 30-by-60-foot barn was in a tight space at the end of a lengthy driveway in a hydrant-less part of the city. The nearest hydrant was almost two miles away on state Route 82, so firefighters had to rely on tanker trucks from other departments.

"The strategy (while we waited) was to try to protect what we could with the tank we had on scene," Milton said. "By the time we established an adequate water supply, the barn was gone."

Milton said while he didn't know the full inventory of the barn, lumber and other "typical storage" materials were inside.

Milton said the "very warm" blaze burned a few firefighters, but he described their injuries as minor.

Departments including Yantic, Bozrah, Gardner Lake, Franklin, Oakdale, Poquetanuck, Baltic and Mohegan assisted East Great Plain.

Records show the 5-acre property belongs to Micah and Tasha Gentile.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

l.boyle@theday.com