The barn fire caused about $1000 worth of damage, but new plans for a more effective layout have already begun. Photo by Adriana Barnes
By Hannah Field
Students enjoying their lunch or a game of frisbee on Thursday, January 24, were startled by wafting smoke. As the first responders were called to the scene to put out the fire, the students nervously began whispering to one another, and the word quickly spread: the barn used by the agriculture and animal science classes was burning. Rumors flew during the final two class periods about the cause and effects of the fire.
Agriculture and animal science teacher Andy VonCanon, whose class was at the barn right before the fire started, said the whole thing was more of a freak accident than anyone’s fault. According to VonCanon, his class used a metal barrel to burn string that holds hay bales together to make sure no animals accidentally consumed it. The fire was completely under control when the class dismissed for lunch, but then it began to spread.
“The best thing that we can determine, since we were not down there, is that an ember was blown out of the barrel and it actually caught the grass on fire right beside the barrel. Then it progressed over on the ground and then caught onto some hay and then it started,” said VonCanon.
The barn was not burned to the ground, rather it was damaged on one side. Around 80 bales of hay were lost, but no people or animals were hurt. The agriculture department expects that the damages will cost $1000-$1500 to repair. Instead of seeing the event as a tragedy, however, they are looking at it as an opportunity.
“It is going to give us a chance to rework some things, redesign some layouts so that we have better access into one of our pastures, and still fulfill the needs we have down there,” said VonCanon.
VonCanon did not believe that the department would be making any major changes to their safety procedures in response to the fire. “Looking back on the whole situation, even talking with the fire marshall and some of the folks there, it was just a random chance that this whole thing happened, and speaking with those folks, what we were doing was not inappropriate or illegal; we were completely within the bounds of what we were asked to do. And so you know, more than likely, we may, instead of starting a fire and coming up here to go to lunch we may only choose to do that on some occasion when we can stay there the entire time, or we can dispose of those strings through the trash or dumpster.”
VonCanon stressed that he appreciated the time of the paid and unpaid individuals who responded to the fire so quickly so the damage was not even worse.