Old barn burned outside St. Joseph
| Mary Schenk, staff writer, 
ST. JOSEPH — A St. Joseph man accidentally set an old barn on his property afire Monday afternoon.
Chief Rusty Chism of the St. Joseph-Stanton Fire Protection District confirmed that firefighters from his department were called to the home of Matthew Cooper on County Road 2350 E, about a mile north of St. Joseph, just before 5 p.m. Monday.
Champaign County sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Coffey said Cooper had been burning dead weeds near the barn earlier in the day and thought he had the fire doused.
Chism said the fire heavily damaged the barn, an older structure that wasn’t in use. Firefighters from Homer and Ogden-Royal assisted in putting out the fire.
Damage to the structure was estimated at $10,000, Coffey said.
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