Fire engulfs livestock barn in Nippenose Valley
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OVAL -- In just a matter of minutes, Abner Stoltzfus saw his dairy-farm operation on Schoolhouse Road go up in flames Wednesday night when a fire in a small power shed quickly engulfed a large two-story barn, about six feet away.
Family members were milking cows in the barn when the fire broke out about 6:30 p.m. They safely escaped and managed to get all the livestock moved to the fields.
"The owner was having a problem with the diesel engine in the power shed and had gone to his phone shack to call a mechanic," Nippenose Valley Fire Chief Dean Miller said.
"As he was walking back to the power shed (about 200 yards from the phone shack), he heard some commotion by the barn. He looked up and saw the shed was on fire. He then ran back to the phone shack to call 911," Miller said of Stoltzfus.
By the time firefighters arrived on the scene, flames were already consuming the barn and threatening the Stoltzfus family home, just 50 feet away, Miller said.
The first fire officer on the scene, Jeff Stabley, immediately ordered additional manpower and equipment to assist in setting up an extensive tanker-shuttle operation to get water to the blaze.
At the same time, members of Stoltzfus' family were quickly moving furniture out of the home and throwing some personal possessions, clothing, out of upper-story windows.
"There was no way of saving the barn, which was 159 feet long and 120 feet wide, so our priority was to prevent the fire from reaching the home, which we did," Miller said.
Although radiant heat melted the siding to the home, firefighters pulled down much of the siding to make sure there was no fire extension, Miller explained.
Nearly a dozen fire companies from Lycoming and Clinton counties were dispatched to the fire, which took most of an hour to bring under control.
There were no injuries. The fire has been ruled accidental and was caused by a problem with the diesel engine, Miller said.
While the barn was a total loss, Stoltzfus was expected to be back in operation within a week.
"The cows are temporarily at a neighbor's farm. Mr. Stoltzfus told the neighbor that that the barn will be back up in five days. When I drove by the scene this morning (Thursday), a pile of fresh lumber and building blocks had already been delivered to the farm," Miller said.