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Fire kills 100-plus cows in 2 barns at Northern NY dairy farm


A fire in two barns on a northern New York dairy farm has killed more than 100 cows but officials say dozens of other cattle were rescued.

In a second devastating fire in not quite nine years, a farmer here lost more than 100 dairy cows and two barns early Thursday.

“There were already people there when we arrived, and they saved 40 to 45 of the cattle,” Ellenburg Center Volunteer Fire Department Chief Colin Wall said.

They also saved two tractors and a skid steer before the fire claimed the two barns completely.

Wall’s fire company was dispatched to 312 Ellenburg Center Road at about 2:50 a.m. Thursday.

A 100-foot-long barn was was leveled by the blaze; only 50 to 60 feet of a 300-foot-long barn in front of it was left standing, though that section was still smoking Thursday afternoon.

DEJA VU

At about 1:40 p.m. Thursday, farm owner Derrick Glaude was just leaving his home on Route 11 near St. Edmund’s Church; he was in the midst of moving heifers, he said.

Visibly distressed, he didn’t want to talk about the disaster.

But he said he’d been through another fire in the past.

On March 5, 2012, Glaude lost 110 heifers when the barn went up in flames at his Riverview Farm, located at 5504 Route 11.

“I always took good care of my cows,” he said.

HOT SPOTS

The blaze was fully involved when Wall and his crew arrived at the farm on Ellenburg Center Road.

They surrounded the two structures and doused them with as much water as they could, he said.

“The tin roof made it hard to fight,” Wall said. “There was tin in other sections, too, that we had to pull off to get to some of the fire.

“There were still some hot spots when we left. (Glaude) had sawdust for bedding in the back part of the barn, and that was still smoldering.”

Mutual aid was provided by Ellenburg Depot, Lyon Mountain, Mooers, Altona and Churubusco fire departments.

Chateaugay stood by at Ellenburg Center’s station.

All departments were back in service by at 9 a.m.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation, Wall said.

PREVIOUS FIRE

Glaude’s fire in 2012 also consumed two tractors and other equipment, a mountain of hay and a shed.

He said then that it started near the panel box in the barn below a nearby silo.

Ellenburg Depot Volunteer Fire Department Chief Lou LaValley said then that the cause of that blaze appeared electrical.

Source: wcax.com and Fox


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