Benson Road barn lost in fire

Mark Reimers
Tribune reporter

  LYNDEN — A barn on Benson Road just north of Badger Road burned down Wednesday evening, destroying a hay baler and causing an estimated $50,000 worth of damage.
  The barn may have caught fire after owner Ray Stuit put down a cutting torch which he had been using to disassemble a milking parlor, said North Whatcom Fire and Rescue Chief Tom Fields. Stuit had injured his hand and gone to the house to apply bandages when he noticed flames in the barn and called the fire department.
  "He checked everything before he came to the house," said Nelda Stuit, Ray's wife.
  The county fire marshal, after investigating, assumes that a stray spark from the torch set the fire. "It's hard to say where it started," she said.
  Responding to reports that a fire hydrant didn't work, Lynden Fire Chief Gary Baar said Monday there is no fire hydrant close to the scene of the fire.
  By the time the Lynden Fire Department arrived first, the barn was already a loss, Fields said, and firefighters fought a defensive battle to save other parts of the structure and other buildings.
  Cattle stored in the barn were rescued before the blaze destroyed the barn. Fields said firefighters were successful in stopping the fire from spreading to adjacent parts of the structure.
  Crews from North Whatcom Fire and Rescue, Lynden and districts No. 1 and No. 7 helped with the effort.