“We came outside and started moving as much of our stuff as we could, trying to get to the animals,” she said.
They were unable to get inside the burning structure to save four 3-day-old calves that were just purchased by the family Saturday. The calves were to be part of a 4-H project shown at the Clark County Fair this year.
The family also had two rabbits, hay and other items inside the barn. Waymire’s husband lost his tractor in the blaze.
Waymire suspects the fire was caused by a heating lamp that may have been knocked over by one of the calves. She described the blaze as a total loss and estimated the loss of the contents of the barn to be about $60,000.
“We can replace everything we’ve got. It doesn’t mean anything if we don’t have our family,” Waymire said.
Friends called and responded to the property minutes after the fire erupted.
“Me and my family were both in a rush to get here,” said Nick Hess, a family friend, who also worked on the farm with the Waymires. “Thinking about what happened and what could be and what it was, it was devastating.”
The engulfed barn sat only a few hundred feet from the family’s house.
There are several other structures on the property. Horses were located in a nearby barn, but they were not hurt.
Firefighters from Madison Twp., Harmony Twp., Stokes Twp. and Cedarville responded to the fire, which took several hours to bring under control. Crews fought the fire defensively from the beginning due to the proximity of the structure to the home, said firefighters.
“It’s hard, we’re upset, the kids are upset,” said Waymire. “You know, we’ll get through it. We’re a strong family.”
Cedarville Fire Chief Scott Baldwin said firefighters left at about 5 a.m. Sunday.
But Waymire said the family continued to battle small flareups and white smoke Sunday afternoon.
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