Fire at Elm Shade Farm in Stanstead
Afire broke out in the milking barn at Elm Shade Farm located on Route 143 just after 7 a.m. yesterday. According to farm owner Sandy Johnston, 15 dairy cows and seven calves were lost in the blaze. A dog and several barn cats also perished, he added.
“The call came in at 7:08 a.m.” said Stanstead Fire Chief Chris Goodsell.
The first truck was on the scene in less than 10 minutes, he said, but the fire was well under way at that point.
“The farmer was in the barn at the time of the call,” Goodsell explained.
“He smelled smoke, and when he went around to the front of the building he saw smoke and flames,” Goodsell said.
Because the barn is located right on the 143, several vehicles saw the fire and called 911. The multiple calls prompted an automatic dispatch for aid from Derby Line fire department.
In total, roughly 30 firefighters participated in the intervention, including
a water tanker from Ayer’s Cliff. Because the nearest hydrant was over two kilometres away, Goodsell said the firefighters had to haul thousands of gallons of water to the scene in four tankers.
“I was the first guy there with a truck,” commented Goodsell. When he arrived, the owner was in the process of evacuating as many animals as he could.
“There were approximately 35 in the barn, 20 got out,” Goodsell said.
“It’s always tough to watch farmers go through that. It’s their livelihood,” he said, adding that it is distressing to hear the animals that were not able to escape the blaze.
“Farmers always do their best to get the animals out,” he said, “but a cow is not a weak animal. When they sense that something is wrong, their first instinct is usually to back up and not go anywhere,” Goodsell said.
“The other farmers are the real heroes,” he commented. “Within minutes, there were farmers from all four directions showing up to help,” Goodsell said.
According to Goodsell, the cause of the fire was accidental, attributed to a faulty light that blew out and shot sparks on the second floor of the barn.
“The second floor was full of hay. That’s basically like throwing a match into a bag full of paper,” he said.
Route 143 was closed for several hours during the intervention. Firefighters cleared the scene at around 1:30 p.m., Goodsell said.