ROGERS — An open-air barn full of hay bales was destroyed Wednesday evening at the Rogers Community Auction and Flea Market.

Owner Ken Baer said the round bales inside had just been sold at auction earlier in the afternoon, but there was no one around that area at the time. No one was injured.

A man who had purchased some of the hay and came to pick it up was the first one to see the fire. According to Baer, that man said he saw some children playing around there before the fire, but the cause of the fire is unknown.

This is the second time a fire has destroyed a building at the Rogers market. The last time was in May 2017.

Baer said just like last time, he plans to rebuild the pavilion. A new metal open-air barn sits just to the east of the one that caught fire Wednesday.

Lisbon fire Chief Paul Gresh said the open structure caught fire on the east end and the wind fanned the flames straight down through the building like a “wind tunnel.” Besides the Lisbon department, Gresh said firefighters responded from Negley, West Point and New Waterford.

The compacted, round hay bales held in the flames and smoldered, leading firefighters and loader operators from the Rogers auction to work together. They worked to tear apart the bales so they could be doused with more water, but this also caused more oxygen to fan the flames inside.

Baer said unfortunately the building usually would have been cleaned out before Friday so vendors could set up inside in time for the weekly flea market sale. With the fire, however, work on cleaning up the area would not begin until the insurance company had a chance to look at it.

This story was written by Deanne Johnson, a reporter for the Lisbon Morning Journal.