A fire destroyed a dairy barn at 8903 County J Sunday afternoon in the town of Brussels.

Some dairy cows were taken to another farm, but several cows were trapped inside the burning structure and died. No other injuries were reported. Dan Ratajczak owns the property.

"The only structure damaged was the milking barn," said Ryan Wery, Brussels-Union-Gardner assistant fire chief.

Wery said the cause of the fire, which was called in to emergency services at 1:45 p.m. by a passer-by, was under investigation, although is not believed to be suspicious.

The barn was fully engulfed at the time the fire was reported. When firefighters arrived, the metal roof of the barn was collapsing, and a nearby home on the property was at risk.

"We definitely protected the house. The siding was starting to melt because of the intense heat," said Wery. "Also, fire was starting in the straw of an adjacent building. We were able to knock that out as well. Once we got the house under control, we continued with attack on the barn from both sides."

Mutual aid was called in from the fire departments of Southern Door and Luxemburg, which provided an aerial truck. Water trucks filled up at Massart's pond and the Forestville Dam.

Firefighters left the scene around 9 p.m. Sunday and returned to the fire scene Monday morning to extinguish hot spots.