The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Fire destroys barn, 50 cows
EAST VINCENT » At least 50 cows escaped injury Wednesday as a fire ripped through a barn on Ridge Road, leaving the structure destroyed.
A large fire broke out at Ridge Star Farm at 259 Ridge Road early Wednesday morning requiring assistance from several area fire companies. Authorities said the fire was reported at around 7:36 a.m. and was fully involved.
“Any time you have a barn fire, the difficulty is that it’s a rural area and we have to shut all the water in,” said Roger Kolb, deputy chief of Ridge Fire Company. “That ended up not being the big problem. It’s just that once the barn gets started it’s hard to stop a barn fire. We had the water set up but the outcome is usually the same when you get a barn fire like this.”
The two-alarm blaze destroyed a barn that was used for storing items like hay, according to Kolb. The nearby barn that’s used for milking cows had to be evacuated as well.
“The second part of the barn where they milk the cows, there were about 50 cows inside,” said Kolb. “They got all the cows out. This part of the barn was used for storing hay and feed and is 100 percent destroyed whereas the cow part of the barn, we were able to save about 75 percent of that.”
Authorities used ladder hoses and fought the fire from the ground as tankers from several area fire departments lined Ridge Road. The blaze took about two hours to get under control.
Kolb said authorities are speculating that the fire started in the milking area of the barn and that fire marshals from Pennsylvania State Police and Chester County are investigating the cause. No injuries were reported. Ridge Road remained shut down for several hours at Seven Stars Road as first responders worked at the scene.