Wallowa volunteer firemen could only put water on equipment outside a hot burning barn Sunday afternoon. "There is no way you can put a fire like that out," said owner Dale Johnson. Photo by Rocky Wilson

A large hay barn filled with more than 350 tons of hay went up in flames Sunday afternoon three miles northwest of Wallowa.

After arriving on the scene Wallowa volunteer firemen could only watch the hot fire burn, while watering down the house, carport and nearby equipment, all belonging to Dale Johnson, to keep them from burning as well.

The fire was reported at 9-1-1 at 3:52 p.m. Sunday. The barn and hay were still on fire the following morning, said Johnson.

Before speaking to his insurance agent, Johnson estimated the monetary loss Monday morning to be between $80,000 and $90,000. The 60 foot x 150 foot barn had been in the family since 1915 when Ernest Johnson hired Clem Werst to construct the 26 foot high edifice. “It is sad because that barn was like part of our family,” said Johnson, who added that they were very fortunate that no one was hurt.

The hand crafted barn had some 20 inch boards in it. “You can never build a barn like that again,” he said.

Johnson had just turned on power to the barn after being away on a short vacation, and suspects that the fire was of an electrical nature. He said that within seven minutes the whole barn was up in flames.

He was able to save three saddles from the inferno and, with the help of others, moved two tractors, a haybine, a horse trailer and a hay loader which were parked on the outside near the barn.

A wind was blowing directly toward the house, garage and a large evergreen tree, making the work of wetting the premises by the Oregon Department of Forestry and volunteer firemen critical to keeping the fire from spreading.

The old frame barn, built in 1915, had two side sheds plus a cow barn on the back end with a lower roof, all of which went up in flames. Johnson said that all of the space was filled with 85 pound rectangular bales. The bales had been in the barn since before Chief Joseph Days in late July, with little interim activity until he switched on the breaker switch Sunday afternoon.

Dale Johnson lives on a Century Farm which has been in the family since 1872 when his great-grandfather Joseph Johnson homesteaded the land.