Firefighters extinguished a barn ablaze on a rural road in Wootton yesterday morning (Saturday), but both firefighters and the landowner are unsure as to how exactly the fire started.
The incident occurred at Blackberry Farm on Upper Woodside Road shortly before 05:00 yesterday morning (Saturday).
Fire crews were called to the rural location and worked to extinguish the blaze, which had forced the large structure to cave and fall in on itself. However, it remains a mystery as to how exactly the empty barn – with metal walls and roof – caught fire on that cold and damp morning.
There is no suggestion of arson – with no immediate evidence of any accelerant used – but equally fire crews haven’t been able to cite a cause for the blaze, leaving both parties puzzled.
The majority metal structure had only just been erected and only boasted roof trusses and stud walls made out of timber. It was completely empty with no gas or electricity on site.
It was hoped that the barn would be used to house farming equipment, animal feed and other agricultural goods.
There has been some other issues that have occurred in the area after black bags of builders waste were dumped on the junction with Palmers Road forcing cars using the road to get punctures in their tyres.
The landowner has exclusively told Island Echo:
“It’s made me and everybody involved absolutely gutted and very sad.
“A lot of work has gone into rehabilitating a run down site like this so its lots of hard work, time and money gone to waste.
Builders and tradesmen had been working throughout the recent cold and wet weather getting the site up and running and will be back there tomorrow (Monday) to assess the situation.
Perhaps locals considered the barn to be a means to an end to eventually gain ‘building permission’ by an easier route than building on green field site is, by then applying for ‘change of use’ for the barn in a few short years?
Hardly inspires confidence in the fire brigade if an empty iron barn with only wood structure cannot have the source of the fire identified.
Why don’t you go there then, and let them know how it was started?
You don’t have to do that these days at the back of whitefield farm people have just moved into a barn with no permission, changed the farm yard into boat storage no permission , living with there six dogs, twenty horses , and it is being ignored by the planning unit along with many other issues!?
Wootton isn’t that far from East Cowes is it. Probably the same arsonist.
Wrong M.O.
They seem to just target road side vehicles.
Just think, low life smack rat feral scum. Fires don’t just start, they are started. Tag the scum and curfew the feral brats, see how quick the problem lessens
Search “spontaneous combustion of hay” and get yourself an education.
Ok Smiffy, so it was ”spontaneous combustion of hay”. So why can’t the fire brigade and the owner work out that was the cause of the fire when the barn was EMPTY. YOU get yourself an education
Don’t you think this report is a bit sensational? First the barn is ‘forced’ to collapse, then the cars were ‘forced’ to puncture, and we end up deciding that the (possible, unproven) arsonist is a feral rat. Aren’t there enough problems in the world at the moment? Do we have to make up some more?
Aliens .. they haven’t had the blame for a while.
… or Elvis !