Kirkland barn fire under investigation: DeKalb County sheriff

KIRKLAND – No one was injured in a Kirkland barn fire early Tuesday morning but officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze, which appeared suspicious in nature, said DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan.

A structure fire at 29086 Malta Road in Kirkland was reported shortly before 5 a.m., according to a DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office news release. Sheriff’s deputies could see small flames coming through the barn roof when they arrived.

Sullivan said no one was injured by the fire, which was “contained rather quickly,” and associated damage was predominately on the south side of the roof.

“They said there was no live power to the building so obviously that makes it suspicious, in my eyes anyways,” Sullivan said. “Last night there was a lot of lightning in the area too, and there was only damage to the roof, so there’s nothing that appeared to be of significant value or loss inside the barn, it was basically an empty building.”

Sullivan said he was told there’s an inactive power line that connects to the building. He said Kirkland and Genoa-Kingston fire departments responded to the initial call for service at 4:50 a.m., 50 minutes later – once the fire had been abated – the departments requested ComEd come to the scene.

“Because there was still a power line there, so they probably just had them come and verify,” Sullivan said.

Kirkland Community Fire Protection District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.