The barn was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived at the farm. Firefighters first used water to cool down two empty silos flanking the burning barn to keep them from toppling, Sanborn Township Fire Chief Dale Hart Jr. said.

A resident at the farm said she suspected the fire was started by a warming lamp over chicks housed in the barn.

The chicks, a rabbit, and a litter of kittens probably died in the fire, she said.

Firefighters requested an excavator to overturn the heavy metal remains of the barn to get to burning materials underneath.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A fire smolders in a fallen barn on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

About 20 firefighters from Sanborn, Wilson, and Hubbard Lake townships fought the fire, with the help of water and firefighters from the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A cow and a firefighter watch the progress of a fire that burned a barn on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Young residents watch firefighters work on a barn destroyed by fire on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A chicken wanders near ruins of a barn destroyed by fire on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Firefighters work near the metal roof of a fallen barn destroyed by fire on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A paramedic from the Alpena Fire Department on medical standby chats with a resident as firefighters address a barn fire on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A cow and a firefighter watch the progress of a fire that burned a barn on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A chicken wanders near ruins of a barn destroyed by fire on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A firefighter sprays the remains of a smoldering barn on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Women watch as an excavator overturns the remains of a barn destroyed by fire on Nicholson Hill Road on Sunday.