Animals safely evacuated from Antioch barn fire

No animals were harmed, but several had to be evacuated during a barn fire Sunday morning in unincorporated Antioch Township.

The fire destroyed 30 to 40 percent of the barn on the 27000 block of West Route 173 and gutted a carport area, fire officials said.

Antioch fire Lt. Chris Lienhardt said the firefighters arrived at around 9:30 a.m. and saw a large volume of smoke. With the help of residents, firefighters rescued farm animals, including goats, llamas, alpacas and a turkey.

Antioch Assistant Fire Chief Ted Jozefiak was heading out of town when saw the smoke. He immediately rushed to the scene and helped the residents carry out a sick llama, officials said.

Firefighters fought off the cold as they helped remove lumber and other equipment from the barn.

Crews from all three Antioch fire stations were on the scene, as were units from across Lake County and southern Wisconsin.

Lienhardt said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but apparently it started in the carport area and spread to the main barn through a common wall connecting them.

There were no injuries, and the animals were relocated to a holding area outside.

Lienhardt said it is still too early to estimate damage.