Fire destroys historic barn

A historic barn was destroyed after catching on fire early Sunday morning, the Idaho Falls Fire Department said.

A call came into dispatch about a fire at 2290 W. Broadway St. just after 1 a.m.

Fire officials said the entire building and all of its contents were on fire when firefighters arrived.

Dan Schofield made a call he never expected to make.

“As soon as I heard the boom, I looked the flames were coming out the very top of the roof they hadn’t started until I turned my head about 20 or 30 feet up in the air,” said Schofield.

The barn, which has been outside his family’s backyard for as long as he can remember, was burning fast.

“As soon as I got the gal on the phone at 911, all hell broke loose. I mean every orifice of this whole thing was going,” said Schofield.

The current owners, Brad and Marv Morgan, bought the barn back in the late 1970s.

“We used it mainly for our own business. We had a towing business. We stored cars out there and stored stuff in the barn,” said Brad Morgan.

The barn was built in 1929 and shipped as a Sears and Roebuck Co. kit.

The family is devastated over the loss because of its historical significance.

It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s for its value and condition.

The family has even turned down offers from others wanting to buy it because it meant too much to them.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.