TAVISTOCK — A family of chicken farmers at Tavistock, in Oxford County, aren’t sure what they’re going to do after a fire destroyed one of their barns last month.
The July 31 blaze at Kraak Farms on Ebenezer Road broke out just before 10 a.m.. The barn was already fully engulfed by the time firefighters from the nearby station arrived. Southwest Oxford Fire Chief Jeff Van Rybroeck said it took firefighters about three hours to get the fire under control.
Firefighters focused their efforts on keeping the fire from leaping off the 43-ft.-by-575-ft. barn to another, same-sized barn only 20 feet away. They were successful keeping the fire contained to the one barn.
The insurance company valued the damage at $1 million, Rybroeck said. The barn was a complete loss.
The barn was empty of animals when the fire broke out, likely started by exhaust from a tractor, Rybroeck said.
Only three days later did the chicks arrive, said Akke Kraak, who farms with her husband Roelof and son Wieberen. “We’re still kind of in shock,” she said. “We don’t know at all what we’re going to do.” The barn was insured, she added.
