This barn on Dunlap Deputy Fire Chief Gene Barker's property on East Valley Road burned on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2018. Dunlap firefighters and assisting firefighters from Pikeville battled the blaze.
Firefighters in Dunlap on Tuesday found themselves battling a blaze at property belonging to one of their own.
Firefighters on a Dunlap fire engine, tanker and brush truck responding to a structure fire on East Valley Road around 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday quickly realized they were on Deputy Chief Gene Barker's property, according to a post on the Dunlap Fire Department's Facebook page.
Firefighters "found a large farm storage shed and shop fully involved with fire. Several other structures were in close proximity to the fire," the post states.
"Due to the heat, Pikeville Fire Department was requested for mutual aid, responding with an engine company and 5 members," officials state in the post. "Firefighters were able to protect a large barn adjacent to the smaller building, but multiple items of farm equipment were destroyed in the fire, which is believed to have been ignited by a lightning strike."
One Dunlap firefighter was taken to the hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion, officials said. That firefighter was later released.
Fire officials thanked Sequatchie County Sheriff's Office personnel who helped at the scene of the fire.