WYALUSING, Pa. -- Debbie Minturn grew up on her family's farm in Wyalusing and has a lot of memories of the barn and shed. Her great-great-grandfather built them in the 1800s. They were destroyed by fire Sunday night. Flames could be seen from miles away.
"That building, well that pile was on fire, fully engulfed. By the time the fire department got here it set the other barn on fire," Minturn said.
This is what's left of a barn and what is known as "the wagon house," which is an old storage shed. Minturn's great-great-grandfather built both in the 1800s.
"It was really painful to just watch it go up in flames," Richard Howard said.
Howard is Debbie Minturn's brother. Five generations of this family lived on this farm over the years and grew up with this barn.
"We were raised here all our life. Nine kids in our family and we grew up here, played in the barn together," Howard said.
"There's a lot of family memories that just, you know," Minturn said.
Firefighters do not know what caused the fire but said the homeowner was inside the shed fixing a truck shortly before it started. Firefighters believe sparks from the equipment may have started the fire.
Minturn says as soon as the fire started, the family let the 14 cows out of the barn. Hay and equipment were lost.
Despite all the damage, the family is grateful their house is still standing, considering how close it is to where the fire started.
"I'm blessed. We had no loss of life, we had no loss of animals and we have a home that we could sleep in last night," Minturn said.
The homeowner says the barn was not insured and they do not plan to rebuild it.