Until early this morning, four fire departments battled a blaze at a pole barn with tin siding located about three miles south of Albert Lea.

The smell from the fire spread through town early this morning, causing curiosity among residents, some of whom called the law enforcement center.

The fire at the barn, which contained mostly hay and tractors, was not completely extiguished by the time firefighters left the scene, said Captain Chuck Karl of the Albert Lea Township Fire Department. The farmer who owned the building was left to monitor the diminishing fire.

Karl would not speculate on what started the fire, explaining that it still must be investigated. But he said the cause of the fire would probably never be known due to the extensive damage from the blaze.

Karl said flames on the fire never got too high since the tin siding on the barn blocked much of the fire.

Karl said that the fire started around 3 a.m. When his department got there, he said they immediately called departments from Conger, Glenville and Twin Lakes. Karl said the three neighboring departments left the scene after about an hour, when the majority of the fire was under control. The last truck from his department left the scene around 7 a.m., when some of the hay in the collapsed barn was still burning.