Fire destroys barn at popular Amish country produce stand

STRASBURG, Pa. – A barn fire in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country sent up a plume of smoke visible for miles and required a hazardous materials team to respond to runoff into a stream.

LNP newspaper reported the Wednesday night blaze in Strasburg occurred on the site of Pop’s Produce Stand, a popular summer market, destroying the 50-by-100-foot barn.

A fire official says the barn contained trucks and tools but no animals.

The fire chief says that the cause hasn’t been established but that the property owner had been doing some grinding in the barn about an hour before flames broke out.

Strasburg is in Lancaster County, about 70 miles (133 kilometres) west of Philadelphia.