DELMAR, NY - A fire broke out at a hay barn in Delmar on Easter Sunday.

Fire crews were called just before noon to 57 Van Dyke Rd in Delmar on Sunday, April 5th, for a report of a skid steer on fire inside a hay barn.

911 dispatchers stated the caller advised they were attempting to pull the skid steer outside the barn.

“When I got there, there was a skid steer on fire and probably 30 round bales of hay on fire, and it was melting half of the bowstring truss tarp that was over that barn,” said Chief Dan Ryan of the Delmar Fire Department.

Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to any neighboring structures.

“There was an equipment barn to the left, there was a cattle barn with approximately 190 cattle inside to the right,” said Ryan. “The fire didn’t spread to any of those and basically burned half of the bowstring truss tarp.”

He said there were more round bales of hay in the rear of the hay barn that did not burn.

“Water supply was a big issue because we had to bring it in from the road,” Ryan said.

The first-arriving truck connected to the hydrant and laid a supply line up the driveway to the barn.

Ryan said approximately 800–900 feet of supply line was used to bring water from the hydrant to the scene.

“The problem with the hydrant was once we hit it, it blocked the street because it was across the roadway,” he said.

He said the road was closed for approximately two hours while crews operated on scene.

Firefighters spent a significant amount of time pulling apart the hay bales to fully extinguish the fire.

“Fortunately, the homeowner had a bucket attachment on the front of a tractor, so he was able to move the bales so they could be torn apart,” said Ryan.

Ryan said the cattle in the adjacent barn were not injured.

“Fortunately, the call came in through a milk truck on site,” Ryan said. “Nobody was out there to see it, so the driver called the homeowner to let them know they might have an issue out here.”

Ryan said a few family members on the farm were former members of the department many years ago.

“The guy in the tractor was one of our members, so he knew what was going on,” he said.

There were no injuries reported to anyone on scene.

Assisting Delmar Fire were Slingerlands Fire, Town of Bethlehem FAST Team, Delmar-Bethlehem EMS, Albany County Paramedics, and Bethlehem Police.