The Jefferson Fire Department and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office responded to a building fire at 1223 Orchard Avenue in the county at 1:53pm on Monday afternoon.

Sheriff Steve Haupert says owner Mike Benson was doing a controlled burn to parts of an abandoned wooden livestock structure and it got out of hand and ignited the entire building on fire.  Haupert notes that Benson called the Law Enforcement Center and had the fire department come out to handle the blaze due to nearby buildings around the fire.

Haupert states that the fire department was able to contain the fire and extinguish the flames before any further damage was done.  Benson had failed to contact the LEC before the burn initially took place.  No one was injured in the incident.

Haupert reminds everyone that when there is a large scale controlled burn going on throughout the county, that residents need to call and notify them so they are aware of the situation and don’t have to use their resources if a passerby notices smoke or a fire from the road.