Cleanup and rebuilding efforts dominated the daylight hours Wednesday at four farms in Franklin County, Pa., where barns were burned, as investigators tried to track down a possible arsonist. At least four barn fires have been reported since Monday in the St. Thomas area. Only about 10 miles separate the properties.
According to the Franklin County Department of Emergency Services, fires were reported at:
- 1153 Geibs Road in Peters Township on Monday at 2:30 a.m.
- 3959 Warm Spring Road in St. Thomas Township on Tuesday at 4:57 a.m.
- 4901 Quarry Road in St. Thomas Township on Tuesday at 10:34 a.m.
- 7623 Valley View Lane in Antrim Township on Wednesday at 5:09 a.m.
A Pennsylvania State Police fire investigator has responded to each site.
For lifelong dairy farmer Barron Keefer, the fires proved to be doubly devastating. He farms at four locations, and lost multiple structures on Quarry Road and one at his home property on Valley View Lane.
The Quarry Road blaze consumed 500 round bales of hay and killed 27 cows, Keefer said.
“A barn is worth a lot of money. It may look like a historical thing sitting there, but they’re valuable,” he said.
Keefer said he invested thousands of dollars and much time into the bank barn that was destroyed Tuesday.
The owners of a welding business on Warm Spring Road hauled debris from their leveled building Wednesday. They declined to comment, but their emotions were clearly raw.
Nelson Fisher is one of three brothers who milk more than 300 cows at 1153 Geibs Road. The Fishers, who lost 19 calves Monday, are trying to keep up with day-to-day operations while making temporary accommodations for the herd.
“The neighbors are wondering who is going to be next,” Fisher said.
Vernon Horst is chairman of the Franklin County Farm Bureau’s Agriculture Promotion Committee.
“We have a lot of investments in our facilities, (so) it causes people to be on edge,” Horst said.
Although farms are insured, there often are assets not covered by a policy, he said.
The public might not realize today’s farmers often are milking cows at unusual times, such as 1 a.m., because of changing management philosophies, he said.
Horst said he has 60 cows on his Chambersburg, Pa.-area farm.
“I’m keeping more lights on now, just doing things you wouldn’t normally do,” he said.
Keefer said he was mixing feed Wednesday morning when he saw flames from the front of a shed-type barn. It was a repeat from the scene he witnessed the day before at the bank barn.
Keefer, who reported 33 cattle stolen in August, said he called 911 while trying to get cows out of the bank barn. Those efforts were largely unsuccessful due to the animals freezing in fear.
Neighbors reported seeing a suspicious black pickup truck on Quarry Road, but Keefer said he realizes that one clue does not provide much assistance.
The cleanup efforts are preventing Keefer from harvesting fall crops, and Fisher from attending to his fields as he would like.
Still, the farmers affected by fires this week said they already have received support from the agricultural community.
“As farmers, we have a history of working together in the past,” Horst said.
Source: HM Media
