Firefighters and equipment from three area departments were on scene of a hay barn fire Monday, Dec. 5 that destroyed an estimated 187 tons of hay.

The fire was in the Farmington Fire District, at the Tevelde Dairy in the 27000 block of East Dodds Road. Fire Chief Matt Bailey said the call came in at 8:12 a.m.

“When we arrived on scene, we had two-thirds of the hay in the barn burning,” Bailey said. “These were the big, 14,000-pound bales of hay and we estimated they lost 292 of them, which is about 187 tons of hay.”

Farmington responded with an engine, two water tenders and five personnel and mutual aid was called in as well, including an engine and a water tender from Escalon and a water tender from Collegeville.

Bailey said the structure involved was a 200-by-50 pole barn.

“We didn’t lose any of the roof or the columns going up to support the roof,” Bailey explained.

Some of the hay bales were saved but nearly 300 were destroyed, and the fire is believed to have started through spontaneous combustion, said Bailey.

Loaders were brought in to assist in moving the hay bales out of the barn.

“It could have been worse,” added Bailey, noting that the structure itself was intact and there were no major issues in containing the smoldering fire.

The chief said that the last units from Farmington were back in service about 5:15 p.m. Monday. The monetary loss was estimated at close to $88,000.