GREENE – Crews from five volunteer fire departments responded to a structure fire in the Town of Greene Tuesday night which destroyed a barn and killed several animals trapped inside.

The barn, located on State Hwy 206 just west of Hogsback Road, was owned by Frank Reich of Greene.

According to Chenango County Fire Coordinator Matthew Beckwith, Reich was working on the first floor of the barn when he noticed a glow in the hay mow. Believing he had left a light on, he proceeded to the second floor of the barn, where he discovered a wagon load of hay on fire.

Responders were alerted to the fire by a 911 called placed at 11:23 p.m. Tuesday. The Village of Greene Fire Department was the first on the scene. Beckwith said responders said they could see the blaze lighting the sky as they left the village limits, some two miles away. When they arrived, they found the two-story mid-century dairy barn “fully involved” and Reich trying to get cattle out of the barn.