Cashion students lose show animals in electrical fire

CASHION — A fire destroyed a Cashion Schools agriculture barn, and three show hogs, a sheep and goat raised by students were lost in the blaze.

Firefighters extinguished the fire about 3:30 p.m. Saturday. An electrical fire destroyed one of the barns used by the Cashion FFA chapter east of Euclid Avenue, Cashion Fire Chief Michael Henry said. No one was injured in the blaze.

Keegan Hertensen, 17, a senior at Cashion High School and president of the FFA chapter, lost her Duroc show hog, Eleanor, which she had shown in Iowa and in Oklahoma this year.

“It was really hard to lose her because I had grown so attached to her. I had her for so many months,” Hertensen said.

Hertensen and Eleanor placed fifth at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, in June and second at the Kingfisher County Fair in August.

Henry said when firefighters arrived, smoke was pouring out of all sides of the barn. Crews found heavy smoke inside the barn and had the blaze out in about 10 minutes, but the animals inside died of smoke inhalation, Henry said.

The school will begin to accept donations Monday at the superintendent’s office to help Cashion FFA, according to a Facebook post by the Cashion Fire Department.

A number of offers for new animals were made Sunday to FFA members from people in the community, Hertensen said.