A Franklin County dairy farm started cleaning up on Sunday, after a fire damaged three barns and killed around 20 cows the day before.
“I worked so hard to make the barn what it was, and now it’s all gone,” said the owner, Ashley Swainbank. “There’s nothing left.”
Swainbank owns and runs one of Kane’s Scenic River Farms LLC’s farms in Sheldon, with her husband. She said that before the weekend’s fire, they had around 450 dairy cows.
When a neighbor saw the smoke and called 911, Swainbeck and her family moved fast.
“My husband and I just started getting animals out as fast as we could,” she said. “We knew it was a lost cause as soon as we walked out the door.”
On Sunday, the bulk of the animals had been saved and were being cared for on several nearby farms.
While firemen fought the issue on Saturday, several others helped to move the animals to safety.
“I really appreciate every single one of you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she said.
Swainbank said that the goal is to fix the barn and enlarge the herd, but this will be a major issue.
“Building is a tricky thing,” Swainbank said. “If we wish to continue farming, we must raise our children [cows]. Nobody else is doing it, and you can’t get substitutes anymore.”
Swainbank said Sunday afternoon that she had found the remains of around 20 cows among the rubble.
“It takes a lot of work to raise a baby calf,” Swainbank said. “It’s a lot of work and it’s hard; it crushes my heart more than anything to see them in there, but we’ll be OK.”It just damages my heart.
Swainbank said that, as the farm proceeds forward in its rehabilitation, the most essential thing the community can do right now is keep an eye out while driving through the greater Sheldon area.
If you find a cow that seems to be missing, she asks you to alert her on Facebook.
