Fire crews battle Staffordshire barn blaze
[gallery] Two horses had to be led to safety after a fire tore through a barn, containing hay and gas cyclinders, in Penkridge.
Six fire crews battled to put out the blaze, which all but destroyed the building in Otherton Lane.
Firefighters worked through the night to ensure there were no pockets of fire left and investigations were taking place today into what caused it.
The two horses were rescued just before firefighters arrived at around 7.15pm. As well as containing hay and cyclinders, there were also fears the roof of the barn contained asbestos, while acetylene and liquid petroleum gas were being stored nearby.
Experts from West Midlands Fire Service were brought in to help Staffordshire Fire & Rescue deal with the suspected asbestos in the roof.
Stuart Claughton, from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue, said: "The barn has been almost completely burned down apart from around a third of it.
"Part of it was like a workshop with vehicles in and we managed to save that bit.
"The rest of it was being used to store other things, including hay. At the moment, we have a specialist fire investigations officer here to work out how it started."
Drivers were stopped from travelling down the remote Otherton Lane, as the road was closed from its junctions with Lyne Hill Lane and Mickleton Lane. The police helicopter also hovered above the scene of the fire.
