No injuries reported after fire destroys two buildings in rural Franklin County

Six local fire departments responded to a blaze that completely destroyed two shop buildings at the Mark and Susan Rother farm north of Latimer Saturday morning.

     The Rothers’ son Tony, who lives across the road, saw smoke coming from his parents’ residence just after 8:30 a.m. and reported it to emergency dispatch. Latimer Fire Chief Mike Keehn said he got the call around 8:40 a.m. and gathered his crew to respond to the blaze, which was located relatively far from surrounding towns.

     The group knew right away they they had their work cut out for them.

     “We could see the smoke from Latimer, which is well over six miles away,” said Keehn. “We immediately called for Sheffield because we could tell it was going to take a lot of water.”

            Flames had already engulfed one building on the property upon the Latimer Fire Department’s arrival. The building, which was used as a maintenance shop for the Rothers’ trucking business, wasn’t their only worry, however.

Read the full article in the Dec. 11 edition of the Hampton Chronicle.