Frankfort Fire Officials: Early Sunday Barn Fire Was Not Related to Recent 'Suspicious' Fires in Same Area

Frankfort firefighters ruled Sunday that an early morning barn fire on Bruns Road was not connected to two recent blazes that ignited in the same area.

Firefighters were called at 2:09 a.m. to a small fire at 11514 Bruns Road at 2:09 a.m., said Frankfort Battalion Chief Todd Hamm. A preliminary investigation led firefighters to believe it was accidental.

"We're thinking, at this point, that it was a lightning strike," Hamm said. "It wasn't part of that whole case with the other barn fires. This was a different situation."

Firefighters were most recently called to the area July 15, when an abandoned barn fire started on Manhattan-Monee Road, about a quarter mile west of Center Road. They were also called there about two weeks before when a a fire broke out in the empty house on the same land. Both of those fires, which officials have said were "suspicious," remained under investigation Sunday, Hamm said.