Barn fire victims turn to Facebook
Jérémie Bergeron and Maude Denoncourt, two young farmers from Sainte Clothilde de Horton, took a major hit on Monday morning when an electrical fire burned up the barn with all of their farm’s hay for the winter as well as a large amount of equipment. Bergeron and Denoncourt only started their farm a little over a year ago and called the fire devastating.
“It is all lost,” Bergeron told the Record, explaining that the farm has contracts to care for non-milking dairy cattle through the winter for several local farmers. In total, he explained, the pair are responsible for 75 cows this coming winter.
The farmer shared that none of the cattle currently in their care were injured as a result of the fire but, having suddenly lost their entire stockpile of food, the two turned to social media for help
The appeal was simple, asking for anyone who is able to help Ferme Jemau make up their hay losses. By Tuesday afternoon, Bergeron said that they had already recovered close to three quarters of what they needed. A look at the Facebook post shows that it was shared nearly 4,000 times and the comments offering help come from across the province.
Asked about whether people have offered to help with the equipment loss as well, Bergeron said that his focus has been on supporting the cows.
“I haven’t even started to look at (the equipment)” the young farmer said, stating that his first priority was to the cows and putting his faith in the farm’s insurance.
Anyone interested in offering Bergeron and Denoncourt help is encouraged to call the farm at 819-471-6476