Loss of heifers, barn to fire 'devastating' for dairy

SACKETS HARBOR — Cow 183 has lost her constant companion.

Any visitors to Old McDonald's Farm in the last couple of years likely were introduced to 183, who at 17 is the oldest dairy cow in Jefferson County. She was not in the barn on Smithville Road where 104 young stock were killed late Thursday, but her shadow at Old McDonald's, Cow 2687, was there, and she was among the dead.

"She was real special to us," Nancy M. Robbins, who owns the farm complex with her husband, Ronald C., said Friday. "And she was going to have her first calf."

The loss, she said, is "devastating."

With the destroyed barn and dead heifers, a $285,000 loss is estimated in the blaze that broke out shortly before 11:30 p.m. at North Harbor Dairy. The property is insured.

The owners' son Brian said the blaze will not bring to an end North Harbor Dairy or its related amusement business, Old McDonald's Farm, County Route 145.

"We are looking for heifers to replace those that we lost and we will rebuild, either at the same location or someplace else," he said.

The blaze was discovered by a hired hand, George Montalvo, who was milking in a nearby barn, Mrs. Robbins said. He telephoned the Robbins home and Mrs. Robbins called 911.

"At first, it looked very small," she said, and because they thought it was in a bunk silo, they did not consider it serious. Firefighters were slow to arrive, she said, only because she had downplayed the seriousness of the situation. She called 911 a second time after they were aware the blaze was in the barn.

Her husband, sons and a brother-in-law, Patrick, rushed into the barn to try to evacuate the cows. All they could do was carry out three calves, and two of those were put down Friday morning by a veterinarian.

"Cows have memories," Mrs. Robbins said, "but they had never been out that door. So they don't know how to get out, and they freak out."

"We couldn't push them out the door and as the fire kept going faster and faster, the guys had to get out of there," she said.

County Fire Investigator Roger E. Brunet said that when he arrived, the fire was concentrated at the rear of a 200-by-36-foot addition and firefighters joined in the rescue effort. But suddenly, boosted by high winds and the airflow from unsecured doors, "it just took off," he said.

Nobody was reported injured.

Getting water to the scene proved difficult until enough pumpers were available to draw from a hydrant at Route 3 and County Route 75, he said.

Sackets Harbor firefighters were assisted by units from Adams, Adams Center, Belle-ville, Henderson, Dexter, Brown-ville, Glen Park and the town of Watertown.

The blaze broke out where two exhaust fans were located and a tractor was parked, Mr. Brunet said. A fan or the tractor likely sparked the fire, "but we will never know," he said.

The last person to have been in the structure was a hired hand, Kenneth A. Peebles, who parked the tractor there about 6 p.m. after spreading manure, Mr. Brunet said.

Both sections of the 10,080-square-foot structure, dating back to 1936, were devoured by the blaze. The barn was "loaded" with hay, he said.