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A neighbor reported seeing smoke coming from a storage barn on John Stoltzfus' 54 Old Leacock Road property about 8:30 a.m.
Gordonville Fire Company and nine other fire companies sent about 100 firefighters to the scene, according to Gordonville Chief Tony Kauffman.
No one was hurt in the fire.
Damage was estimated at $100,000, Kauffman said.
"There was heavy smoke and some visible fire from the outside," he said. "Inside, there was a lot of fire."
Firefighters knocked down most of the flames in minutes and brought the fire under control in about half an hour, Kauffman said.
"I'd say the building was destroyed," Kauffman said of the stone and metal-siding barn. "It will have to come down."
If there were any farm animals in the lower portion of the barn at the time of the fire, they got out on their own and were not hurt, he said.
The fire chief said Stoltzfus had a problem with squirrels getting into the building before, had taken care of it, but then noticed recently they were back.
Kauffman said state police Fire Marshal Brian Herr ruled the fire electrical in nature, possibly caused by squirrels chewing through wires.
Firefighters from Bird-in-Hand, Gap, Intercourse, Kinzers, Paradise, Ronks, White Horse, Witmer and Strasburg fire companies assisted at the scene, Kauffman said.
The barn was used primarily to store tools, equipment and files related to Stoltzfus' interior remodeling business, Kauffman said.
A little smoke was still rising from the main part of the barn when an assembly line of Amish men started throwing bales of straw from an underground section into another building about 30 feet away.
That building had been the site of a large fire in 1991, according to newspaper records.
At that time, 150 firefighters put out a fire that caused $250,000 damage to contents and the building, where Stoltzfus' former Leacock Woodcraft business was located.
Kauffman said a few builders were at the scene after the fire and seemed to be making measurements they could use to order materials to replace the structure.
E-mail: rrobinson@lnpnews.com
