Photo by Deb Gau A hog barn was destroyed in a fire Sunday morning in rural Hanley Falls. Fire departments from Hanley Falls, Cottonwood, Wood Lake and Clarkfield all responded to the fire.

HANLEY FALLS — A Sunday morning fire destroyed a hog barn at a farm west of Hanley Falls. Although the building was gone, there weren’t any livestock lost, responders said.

Owner Dan Stevens said both he and a neighbor noticed smoke coming from the barn at about 7:30 a.m.

“It went quickly,” Stevens said of the fire. Firefighters from Hanley Falls and neighboring communities responded to the scene, located on 205th Avenue in Sandnes Township, Yellow Medicine County. But the barn couldn’t be saved.

Stevens said if anything could be considered a bright spot in the situation, it was that the barn was empty at the time of the fire.

“It was emptied on Friday, and we had it half washed,” Stevens said. He had expected to get new pigs in the barn on Tuesday.

Hanley Falls Fire Chief Paul Neisius said the fire didn’t damage any other buildings on the farm. However, the cause of the fire was unknown.

“We have no idea what could’ve caused it,” Stevens said.

Stevens said Sunday he didn’t yet know what his plans would be moving forward from the fire. Not being able to start raising a new group of pigs this week could be a concern in more ways than one, he said — he also needs the manure the pigs produce for organic fertilizer.

“We’re going to hopefully rebuild,” Stevens said of the barn.

The Hanley Falls, Cottonwood, Clarkfield, Wood Lake and Granite Falls fire departments all responded to the fire, Neisius said.