GENOA TOWNSHIP — A structure fire late Monday evening at Freeman Farm in Genoa Township fully engulfed a township storage barn.
No individuals or firefighters were injured as a result of the blaze at Freeman Farm, located at 6142 Lewis Center Road.
The storage barn contained snowplow blades, tractor attachments, fencing and timber, all of which were damaged as a result of the fire, Township Communications Director Leslie Strader said.
As a result of the fire, Freeman’s Farm is closed until further notice, according to township officials.
The Genoa Township Fire Department was dispatched to the scene at 10:50 p.m. Monday evening, according to Genoa Fire Chief Joseph Ponzi.
The department initially sent out only one fire engine because the first 9-1-1 call was from a nearby resident who reported the fire as a grass fire, Ponzi said.
Shortly thereafter the initial 9-1-1 call, dispatchers received several other calls and upgraded the severity of the fire from a grass fire to a structure fire.
“At that point, our goal was to protect any other exposed buildings and get the fire under control,” Ponzi said.
Ponzi said crews were able to extinguish the fire around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. Crews left the scene around 3 a.m.
Multiple mutual-aid agencies also responded to the fire, including:
- Harlem Township Fire
- Westerville Fire
- Orange Township Fire
- Berlin Township Fire
- Porter Kingston Fire District
- Berkshire Township, Sunbury, Trenton Township and Galena Fire
- Delaware County EMS
- And Box 15
Township fire officials and others are investigating the cause of the fire, which is unknown at this point, Ponzi said.
Township officials also said the park’s historic barn was not impacted by the fire.
Genoa Township acquired the farmland in March 2024 through a grant from the Clean Ohio Fund to turn it into a park, but maintain the buildings on site, according to a press release.
Freeman’s Farm was previously owned by five generations of the Freeman family since purchasing it in 1868, according to the release.
