A fire, started in a homeowner’s burn barrel, destroyed two storage sheds behind a house on Crestview Drive in Danville on Friday afternoon.

A neighbor called the fire in about 2:45 p.m., after observing the homeowners attempting to put the fire out themselves.

“We made a quick attack (after arriving),” said Boyle County Chief Donnie Sexton. “We had a full staff at the station, that helped.”

The homeowners told Sexton they had been using a burn barrel in the backyard, near the sheds. The fire was almost out, when the wind caught it, blowing a piece up to the shed, igniting it. Inside, Sexton said, there were gas cans and other things one might expect to find in a shed or garage — which is why there were initially small explosions reported.

“That’s very normal. Almost every garage fire, it’s always expected,” Sexton said.

No one was injured. The fire had started to spread toward the house, he said, but they were able to get it out. There didn’t appear to be any structural damage, but the electricity was cut off until it could be inspected, Sexton said.

It could have been much worse, he said.

“This is why burn permits are important,” Sexton said. “If they would have called for a burn permit, we would have told them no, it is too windy today. Sometimes people get mad when we tell them no; this is why we say no.”

Boyle County requires anyone in the county wishing to burn something, even in a “burn barrel” to contact the Boyle County Fire Department for a burn permit. In some cases, depending on the materials being burned, the weather, and location of the burn, a request will be denied.

Follow Kendra Peek on Twitter, @knpeek.