Police and fire officials are investigating a fatal fire that consumed a small, hay bale barn early Saturday morning in Solon leaving one dead.
Firefighters were called at 2:21 a.m. to a farm on Lapp Hill Road, according to the Cortland County Sheriff’s Office. A barn constructed of poles and a roof, and containing 60 bales of hay, was fully engulfed when Cortlandville Firefighters arrived, said Chief Gere Henry this afternoon in a phone interview.
Firefighters from Cortlandville, McGraw and Homer battled the blaze, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. The volunteers used hoses from their fire trucks to extinguish the flames, Henry said.
As the firefighters labored, a dead body was discovered inside the barn, said Lt. Todd Caufield. The person “appeared to have perished as a result of the fire,” according to the news release.
The Sheriff’s Office is not releasing the name of the deceased at this time.
Members of the Sheriff’s Office, the Cortland County Coroner’s Office and the state Fire Investigation Team are investigating the fire, according to the release. The Solon Highway Department assisted officials at the scene, helping to move large hay bales with their loader.
The Sheriff’s Office asks anyone with information regarding the fire to please call the Cortland County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division at 607-758-6151.
