Years worth of restoration and Iowa history nearly went up in flames early last week when a field near the famous Octagonal Barn in Johnson County caught fire. Thanks to the efforts of the West Branch Fire Department, the barn was saved.
The Secrest 1883 Octagonal Barn, located four miles east of Iowa City and one mile west of Downey, is a one of a kind barn, Richard Tyler says. “There’s nothing like it in the world.” It’s become known for its hand-laminated beams and octagon-shaped cupola on its roof.
Tyler led the restoration of the three-story barn, using state historical society and resource development grants and hundreds of volunteers. Though he’s tried to keep the barn as historically accurate as possible, he has also added in safety features such as railings, as well as toilet plumbing and electricity.
This has allowed the barn to be used as a venue for events, giving the public a chance to marvel at its unique architecture. According to Tyler, the barn was designed to hold 200 tons of loose hay and up to 18 horses, as well as cows, in its stalls.
A couple months ago, Tyler said a nonprofit group contacted him, asking if there was any land near the property they could plant and grow crops on. “There’s a couple of acres out on the east side of the barn down in the valley, so I said ‘yeah, you could plant something down there’, and so that was fine.”
On the day of the fire, Tyler received a phone call from some people who were staying in the farmhouse near the barn. The guests told him there was a big grass fire, and that they had already called the West Branch Fire Department. He would later learn the fire was stopped about 15 yards away from the barn.
“I came out here, but by then the fire department already had it under control,” he said. “They did a wonderful job, and stopped (the fire) from getting up to the barn. I’m just really grateful to the fire department.”
The specific cause of the fire is not yet known, but Tyler said he assumes the group was trying to till the ground and get rid of the grass in their section of land before they planted.
“I didn’t know they were gonna do this, but I think that was the purpose of doing it. I think the people that are still going to plant crops need to do a careful job of not doing that again,” he said. “But it’s all part of life. There’s always ups and downs, but the barn is in good shape.”
The only damage caused during the fire was the melting of a nearby plastic tube connected to a hydrant that was used to supply the barn with water. Tyler has already begun trying to fix the tube, and doesn’t expect to have any problems with this or with getting the water supply back on.
During the summer, Tyler plans to include the Octagonal Barn in a barn tour. “I’ve got ropes in the barn, so we can actually pull up loose hay, and I’m hoping during the tour, I can bring out somebody with some horses and have them pull up some hay as part of a demonstration.”