OXFORD – Both firemen and farmers came to the rescue of a neighbor Tuesday night when his barn caught on fire with about 65 dairy cows trapped inside.
The homeowner credited the Oxford Fire Department, neighbors and fellow farmers for stopping the hay fire before it destroyed the whole barn.
At approximately 5:30 p.m., dairy farmer Jeff Locke said he decided to go out to his barn, located at 622 Buckley Hollow Road in the Town of Oxford, to move some hay.
“The timing was right. I was upstairs in the hay mow and I thought I smelled smoke and when I looked around, I could see smoke rolling up through the boards,” said Locke.
Locke said it didn’t take long for him to realize one of the round bales was engulfed in flames. He immediately ran out of the building and yelled to his wife, Betsy, who quickly dialed 911.
Locke returned to the barn and began to evacuate the 40 milking dairy cows and 25 heifers and calves inside.
Just a short distance up the road, neighbor and Brisben Volunteer Fireman Rich Northrup heard the Oxford Fire Department being toned out and immediately left for the Locke’s farm.
“He was here within minutes. He lives right up the road and was the first guy down here to help get all the animals out with my husband. He’s a pretty good darn neighbor and a pretty darn good fireman, too,” Betsy Locke said.
Her husband reported that although most of the livestock was uninjured, a few panicked and attempted to flee the fire, jumping ditches and pressing hard against fenced areas, bruising some of the animals. One cow injured her leg badly and may have to be put down, he said.
“They smell smoke and there’s a fire – they pretty much do what people do, they panic,” the long-time farmer said.
Oxford Fire Chief Ron Martin Jr., who was on duty as an officer for the Oxford Police Department, was one of the first to arrive at the scene. He was joined by Oxford’s 1st Assistant Chief Mike Bartle, who responded in his own vehicle, and worked together with the other men as they attempted to slow the fire’s progress inside the barn and get the cows out while they waited for the rest of their department to arrive.
“Whenever you hear of a barn fire, it’s not a good thing. Barns are pretty open and fires are tough to make stop once they have a chance to get going. Coming up the hill, there was no glow in the sky, but you smelled smoke,” said Martin.
Martin said the hay bale was completely ablaze when he arrived at the scene about 5 minutes after the call went out.
“We were grabbing snow and whatever we could find to slow the fire until the first engine arrived. We were using our hats to take snow to the fire and hold it over,” he added.
The Oxford Fire Department responded to the scene with approximately 35 of its volunteer members, and all of its equipment, save the department’s ladder truck. The Brisben Fire Department provided mutual aid, with the assistance of their tanker and engine trucks. The Greene Fire Department was placed on standby.
“We had it under control in about 10 to 15 minutes. Crews basically rolled out the burning bale and put out the surrounding fire,” said Bartle. Crews also surveyed the barn with thermal imaging equipment to ensure no heat was contained within the structure’s walls.
Martin estimated that if even another 10 minutes had elapsed, the fire would have spread to the barn’s structure.
Locke agreed, saying “there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that in a few more minutes the whole thing would have gone up. If it wasn’t for the Oxford Fire Department and our neighbors, I would have nothing. Instead I’ve got cows to milk tomorrow morning. I can’t thank them enough.”
According to the Oxford Fire Department, the fire was caused by an extension cord under a round hay bale.