A concerted effort and a large response by local fire departments kept a hay fire from completely burning down a Denair barn.

The fire broke out around 5 p.m. Monday in a barn in the 1900 block of Hall Road, east of Denair.

The Denair Fire Department was dispatched to the fire along with automatic aid coming from Hughson, Keyes and Turlock Rural fire departments.

The first crews to arrive at the scene found a large hay stack ablaze under an open air barn.

Additional resources from Stanislaus Consolidated, Westport, Woodland Avenue, Mountain View, and Burbank Paradise Fire were dispatched to the scene.

“Working with the property owners, hay was removed from the barn while fire crews protected the structure of the barn,” said Denair Fire Department’s spokesman James Brewer. “Water was shuttled from a nearby canal with several water tenders to provide water to the fire.”

The multi-agency response proved successful at keeping the flames from spreading to the barn structure. The final crews were cleared from the scene on Tuesday morning.

The hay loss was estimated at $150,000.

“The cause is believed to be spontaneous combustion,” Brewer said.