An unattended wood stove was the source of a barn fire Saturday that caused around $40,000 in damages, including farming equipment, but left cattle in the barn unharmed.

The blaze broke out at the 322 Boyles Run Rd. building around 3:53 p.m. while the owner, Kenneth Kessler, wasn’t home.

“The home owner said he started the (wood stove) fire around 10 a.m. and went out for a while,” said Michael Rhoads, assistant fire chief for the Sunbury Fire Department.

The barn was used to store Kessler’s nine cows, along with equipment — including a hay baler, manure spreader, four-wheeler, riding tractor and air compressors. Damage was estimated at $40,000 and Kessler does have insurance for the building, Rhoads said.

All the cattle escaped unscathed, and could be seen standing along a back fence in a field next to the crowd of firefighters battling the blaze.

Heavy, dark smoke rose from the building and wafted through the air, filling the area with a campfire smell and growing so thick at times it was difficult to see. Debris floated through the air as flames rose from the large, wooden building.

With the home located at a bend in the road, firefighters from Sunbury, Lower Augusta Township, Upper Augusta Township, Stonington, Pillow, Dalmatia and Hummels Wharf arrived on scene and were running on the road, directing numerous trucks and shooting water from the various hoses.

“With it being rural, we have to create our own water supply,” Rhoads said. “That’s why there was the need of so many tankers with that size of a building, which was well involved when we got there.”

The crews were on scene until 6:15 p.m., he said.