Landmark in Grant County goes up in flames on Tuesday night - Barrett school building is a total loss

**Be sure to bookmark this page and check back daily for further updates on this horrible fire that literally shook the small town of Barrett, population 350, and had the entire town engulfed in smoke before numerous area fire departments could get the fire under control. This was one was a doozy!

Photos courtesy of Chris Ray, Grant County Herald - click to enlarge any of them.









































The photos were taken shortly before 10pm on Tuesday night, with the top photo having a vantage point from the south side of the school building.

Update at 4pm Wednesday:The oldest part of the Barrett school building grounds (now owned by Palmer Bus Company) is still standing, but everything else was destroyed by the fire. Basically, anything that was built on the grounds after 1958 is gone. Further details are forthcoming.

The state fire marshall and Grant County Sheriff's office are currently investigating.

At approximately 9pm the 911 call went out to area fire departments.

There was at least two Alpha transit busses and one older bus inside the building. They were all destroyed in the fire.

From the east of Barrett, it looked like the sun was setting at 9:30pm. According to Chris Ray, the whole town was glowing, with thick smoke drafting through all the streets in the lower levels of the town.

Miraculously, the wind at the time pushed every last bit of ashes and other airborne flammable materials onto the baseball field, which lies south/southwest of the building.

More will be added from this throughout the day.

Additional photos from daytime views of the burn site will be added on Thursday morning. Photos and further details on the fire will be published in the December 10 issue of the Hoffman Tribune.