An historic Canton Township barn built before the Civil War was destroyed in a fire caused by smoke bombs and burning paper set up as part of a social media post, officials said.

BERRIEN COUNTY, Mich. – A large barn fire killed multiple animals Thursday morning in Berrien County. According to authorities, the Chikaming Township Fire Department were called to the fire at about 5:30 a.m.Fire crews were able to save two horses, two goats and some of the chickens, but some chickens, a peacock and four llamas -- including three babies -- were killed by the fire. “By the time we were able to do anything, it was so totally involved there was absolutely no way that anybody could go inside to try to get the other animals out,” said fire chief Mike Davidson. “It had too much of a head start on us.”The cause of the fire is under investigation, but authorities believe no foul play is involved.

DETROIT – A report released Friday shows that Michigan had the most animals die in barn fires in 2019. According to the Animal Welfare Institute’s report, more than half of the 469,000 farm animals that died in barn fires this year perished in Michigan. North Carolina had the second highest number of animals killed -- 42,500 in five fires, followed by 42,000 deaths in 14 fires in Pennsylvania. The number of animals killed in barn fires in 2019 jumped drastically from 2018, the report shows. According to the AWI, there aren’t laws in place that protect animals from barn fires.