By Karen Blackledge
RIVERSIDE – About 60 cows and calves died in a fire believed to have been caused by a malfunction in a heat lamp in a large Rush Township barn Friday morning.
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“When I walked outside, it was coming out of the roof,” owner Wesley Keener said of the flames he discovered shortly after 8 a.m.
“It was coming out the end of the barn. It was gone then,” said an obviously upset Keener.
He, family members and friends were able to save about 20 cows and calves. Kenner said he had 80 dairy animals in the barn including 68 used for milking.
Dean Woodruff, who helps out at the farm, was nearby holding onto a small calf.
Keener suspects a heat lamp ignited bedding in the barn.
“When I got here, the barn was already down,” said Southside Fire Company Chief Butch Kriner. “There was nothing we could have done for the barn,” he said.
The Southside and Elysburg companies were the first on the scene.
When firefighters arrived, winds were whipping the flames high in the air. The gray and white smoke could be seen for miles from the barn, which is about five miles from Riverside on Scisly Road.
Keener said the barn was 170 feet by 40 feet. Hay was stored in the top of the structure.
He has insurance through the Danville Mennonite Church brotherhood and added the brotherhood will be providing him with an assistance plan.
Keener said friends saw the smoke. “The smoke showed the community the way to go,” said Keener who has owned the dairy farm since August 1985. “A lot of dairy friends knew and came running,” he said.
Kriner had no damage estimate at the scene.
He said a state police fire marshal will be called to investigate the cause.
Kriner wasn’t aware of any injuries or cases of frostbite among the approximately 50 firefighters in the frigid temperatures.
Tankers got water from Cherokee Golf Course, along Route 54 in Rush Township, and Cherokee Pharmaceuticals in Riverside. Tankers could be seen shuttling water back and forth along the narrow Scisly Road.
Water was pumped into portable tanks. There was still smoke from the fire at 10:30 a.m.
Kriner said firefighters concentrated on saving the milking parlor and the two silos.
“We will put it in God’s hands. He’s not to blame,” Keener said.
Fire companies responded from Southside in Riverside, Elysburg, Mahoning Township, Danville, Liberty Township, Catawissa, Upper Augusta Township and Overlook. Many companies used tankers and the Danville aerial truck was called along with a Danville ambulance.
E-mail comments to kblackledge@dailyitem.com.
