Read and Annotate: Ashed attached to the barn was already engulfed by flames. It contained two tons of coal for the winter and a large supply of kindling wood Fire ran along the dry grass and leaves, and took hold of a neighbor's fence. The heat from the burning barn, shed, and fence was so hot that the O'Learys' house, forty feet away, began to smolder, Neighbors rushed from their homes, many carrying buckets or pots of water. The sound of music and merrymaking stopped abruptly, replaced by the shout of "FIRE!". It would be a warning cry heard thousands of times during the next thirty one hours.