WORTHINGTON - An early-morning fire gutted a sugar house on Rida Road, near the town's border with Cummington.

The building, which measured about 20 by 20 feet, was owned by the Rida family but was not used for boiling maple sap, said Fire Chief Richard Granger. There was a wood boiler inside the sugar house that was used to heat the main residence about 60 feet away, he said.

There was no damage to the residence, Granger said. Firefighters put a layer of foam on a large barn housing about 50 cattle near the sugar house to protect it from the flames, he said.

The call came afrom neighbors at 4:45 a.m. About 30 volunteer firefighters from Worthington, Cummington, Chesterfield, Plainfield, Peru, Hinsdale and Middlefield responded, Granger said.

"We were there in 15 minutes, but it had already burned to the ground," he said.

The fire is not suspicious, and there will probably not be an investigation, Granger said. His preliminary estimate of the damage was between $20,000 and $30,000.