A wind blowing from the south helped prevent an overnight shed fire at a Wiscasset farm from spreading to a nearby barn, Assistant Wiscasset Fire Chief John Merry said.

The wind blew toward a field and away from the barn, home and other buildings. “So that was perfect,” Merry said at the scene of the fire, reported shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 12.

No one was hurt. The property's owners, Harry and Cathy Lewis, said no animals were inside the approximately 12 by 16-foot wooden shed.

Cathy Lewis said she is a light sleeper and heard a noise that she thought might have been one of her horses having a problem. Then the Lewises discovered the shed was on fire. He called 911 while she made sure the three horses were safe in their pasture.

The property was a chicken farm many years ago, Harry Lewis said. He said he used the shed to work on lawn mowers. He didn’t know its age, but it was old, he said. The barn dates to 1900, Cathy Lewis said.

In addition to  Wiscasset firefighters, the Alna Fire Department was also paged, but that request was canceled. The shed's walls had caved in and the fire was being quickly put out, so the extra help wasn't needed, Merry said.

Neither Merry nor the Lewises knew what caused the fire; it was not suspicious, Merry said.

Heat from the fire damaged a nearby pickup truck and some of its contents, Merry said.

“I'm just feeling blessed that everybody and the horses are OK,” Cathy Lewis said as firefighters continued working around the shed's remains.