A massive fire overnight destroys a barn at a Gifford Road dairy farm in Westport.

Lt. Dan Baldwin says firefighters responded to 733 Gifford Road around 10pm, and found a large barn fully involved with flames.

Forty-five minutes later, the barn collapsed and flames threatened two nearby homes. Baldwin says those homes were saved, but heavy equipment had to be brought in to lift the barns metal walls and timber to get at hay burning underneath.

Baldwin says cows were already outside the barn when fire crews arrived. He said some are unaccounted for, but are beleived to have scattered into the nearby woods.

Also destroyed was a load of fertilizer that had recently been stored in the barn. State Haz-Mat officials were called in to monitor air at the site.

Nine area communities, including Acushnet, New Bedford, and Somerset provided mutual aid, trucking in thousands of gallons of water because of a lack of hydrants in the area.

No injuries were reported and the fire remains under investigation.

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