By Anita Miller

The Hays County Fire Marshal issued a release Wednesday morning ruling the fire and explosion at a Dacy Lane Barn on Nov. 27 was accidental in origin.

Losses were estimated at $10,000, said the release, which was sent by Fire Marshal Scott Raven to the county’s public information officer Laureen Chernow, who disrupted it to area media.

Raven said a resident was smoking a turkey in a smoker with a difficult to close door, and that embers were caught by north winds and spread to...