Palmyra and rural Marion County fire crews spent Monday night fighting a large outdoor fire west of Palmyra, Missouri.
The Palmyra Fire Department received a call shortly after 6 p.m. that a barn full of 394 bales of hay caught fire.
The structure off County Road 230 was fully engulfed by the time crews arrived.
Firefighters first tried to put out a grass fire that had spread to the acre surrounding the barn.
"I talked with one of the land owners, and we're thinking it might've been a lightening strike that happened Friday morning, and it just took it this long to smolder or combust," Palmyra Fire Capt. Ron Kraft said.
Missouri is ranked as the top state in the nation with outdoor fire risk due to the continued drought and extreme heat that has recently taken hold of the Show-Me state.
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