Livestock escape barn fire near Newcomerstown
NEWCOMERSTOWN – All of the animals made it out of an Oxford Township barn before it burned to the ground early Thursday morning.
Chief Jeff Parks says the call came in just after 3:30 a.m. from the 13000 block of River Road Southwest. He says the barn was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. He says the 50-by-100-foot barn and the equipment inside are a total loss, but the owners got their cows out of the barn safely.
Six other departments assisted Newcomerstown. Firefighters were on scene for about six hours.
Parks says the cause of the fire is still under investigation. He did not have a damage estimate, but he suspects it will be significant considering the equipment lost in the fire.
This was the second major fire in that area in less than 48 hours. Parks says a home a few miles away was destroyed Tuesday morning on Dog Road SW. The cause of that fire is also under investigation.
There is a GoFundMe account for the family involved in Tuesday’s house fire. It’s for Todd Kahn, Crystel Mclaughlin Kahn and their four boys who lost everything in the fire. The GoFundMe page says the family members are OK, but a pig and a puppy needed medical attention, and some ducks and chickens died in the fire.