Sugar Valley Greenhouse counting their blessings, one petal at a time
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AMBER MORRIS/THE EXPRESS
A crew of Amish men hard at work with hammers and saws already had a new building well underway the morning after the fire.
LOGANTON -- When word spread across Sugar Valley Tuesday afternoon confirming the cloud of thick black smoke seen in the sky just south of Loganton was coming from the Sugar Valley Greenhouse, panic and concern set in, as fire truck after fire truck kept coming through town, lights flashing and sirens blaring.
The greenhouse has been a staple for house plants, flowers and vegetable plants for decades, with many customers faithfully traveling from several counties away to buy their spring plants each year.
The shop is owned by Sarah Stoltzfus and managed by her daughter Feenie Esh.
"The Sugar Valley Fire Company really did a good job and they got here really quick," said Feenie. "For a while we thought the barn was going to go. There were some sparks from the shed that landed in there, and the straw and the hay caught on fire inside, but the fire company saw what was going on, and they stopped it right away. Because of them, the damage really isn't that bad, not like it might have been. They really are something."
"The main thing we lost was our work area and our tobacco shed, and some equipment. It wasn't much. And we didn't lose any flowers from inside the greenhouse at all," she continued.
According to Feenie, the blaze started in an area attached to the main greenhouse.
"There was a small red shed back there where we kept the tank filler in, and my brother was filling the forklift with propane. He was outside the shed, and he said that all of the sudden the fire was just shooting out of the propane tank and out of the shed," she said. "He tried to stop it, but then ran to the phone to call for help, and the fire company got here so fast."
"In the beginning, we had gone into the office to start moving things out and the fire company came in and told us that we couldn't be in there and to get out -- that the propane tanks could explode, so we listened and stood over by the garden. And one of them did explode. That's when the flames were higher than the silo. We could feel the heat from that far away," Feenie said.
Feenie and her family are thankful for everyone who played a part in saving not only the greenhouse, but potentially their farm too, as well as the homes of her parents and grandparents, had the fire spread.
"So many people came to help -- even from the auction next door -- they ran up and helped clear out the lower greenhouse when the first of the smoke was in the air, and we really want to thank all of the fire companies. We are very grateful," she continued. "They are so good at their job that we have people coming in here this morning saying they heard we had a fire and couldn't believe it, because when you walk in the shop, you can't tell until you look out back."
Tuesday's smoke and whistles, and firefighter's in full gear were replaced on Wednesday morning by the sound of pounding hammers and bearded men in straw hats and suspenders putting up the frame of a new building where the blackened beams stood the afternoon before.
"They are already building a new shed," said Feenie. "It will be up by tonight I'm sure."
Today, Feenie, Sarah and the rest of the Stoltzfus and Esh families are counting their blessings, petal by petal, and leaf by leaf.
"It could've been way worse. Yesterday, we couldn't believe anything was going to be standing, the way flames looked, but today it feels so good to walk in here and see all the flowers," she said.
An official cause of Tuesday's fire has yet to be released. The following fire companies responded to the blaze: Sugar Valley, Lamar Township, Nittany Valley, Mill Hall, Beech Creek/Blanchard, Flemington Goodwill Hose fire and EMS, Lock Haven Citizens Hose, Lock Haven Hope Hose, Lock Haven Hand in Hand, Dunnstown, Woolrich, Avis, Nippenose Valley, Citizens Hose of Jersey Shore, Miles Township and Millheim. The Clinton County Department of Emergency Services also responded to the fire.
On scene, Sugar Valley Fire Company's Ladies Auxiliary and the Salvation Army assisted with food and water for first responders and EMS personnel.