Photo by courtesy Gothenburg Times Flames roar from the roof

Photo by courtesy Gothenburg Times Smoke also pours from the side of the barn, at left, in this slightly different angle of the front.

Courtesy Photo­Image Aftermath, Tuesday

Fire destroyed the sale barn that was more than 100 years old Monday afternoon at Brott Auction and Gothenburg Livestock.

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Owner Wendell Brott said he saw smoke coming out of the building around 4:15 p.m. and the Gothenburg Volunteer Firefighters arrived a little before 4:30 p.m.

Three units from Cozad arrived to help at around 4:50 p.m. A total of about 50 firefighters were on scene.

It appears that a space heater being used to dry paint on some seats may have caused the blaze. State Fire Marshall Ryan Sylvester is investigating.

“By the time the Gothenburg firefighters got there, smoke was billowing out of the building and when a door was opened fire shot out,” Gothenburg Fire Chief Mark Balmer said. “The flames were shooting out of the south side of the building and eventually broke through the roof and engulfed the entire building, which is a total loss.”

“The building had an old wooden frame that had been covered with tin siding,” Balmer said. “The large open space inside gave the fire lots of air, causing it to spread fast.”

The barn was in the 800 block of Avenue I.

“The building was empty except for two dogs that were rescued,” Brott said. “There were cattle on the property but were all safe in a back pen. A truckload of livestock had been weighed and shipped out only 40 minutes prior to noticing the smoke,” he said.

Brott said that there was going to be an auction in the sale barn Wednesday, “but of course, that won’t happen now.”