NORTH FORSYTH — Fire department officials are urging safety and proper burning in the wake of a storage barn fire over the weekend in northeast Forsyth.

The blaze occurred about 6 p.m. Sunday when an adjacent pile of rubbish and debris was being burned and spread on Westbrook Road between Keith Bridge Road (Hwy. 306) and Dawsonville Hwy. (Hwy. 53).

No one was injured, and the fire has been deemed accidental in nature, according to Forsyth County Fire Division Chief Jason Shivers.

The unit, a three-walled barn used for storage, was not attached to a nearby residential structure and caused no harm to anything else on the property, Shivers said.

Though there were many items stored in the barn, a tractor was the only item of significant value. It, along with the unit itself, was a total loss.

“We are still in outdoor burning season, which will end on May 1, so on days when [burning] is allowed based on weather conditions, we urge everyone who considers burning as a way of destroying debris to do so very, very cautiously,” Shivers said.

Safe burning includes having plenty of people around to help and a water source readily available at all times, he said.

Anyone wishing to burn must obtain a permit to do so. Outdoor burning rules can be found on the fire department page of the county website, which also will say every day whether burning is allowed.

“Keep piles small,” Shivers said. “And you can only burn naturally fallen debris.”