Farm family grieves the loss of cows, in wake of barn fire

By Ginna Young

Siren, sirens and more sirens. That’s what residents heard the night of Feb. 2, as a multitude of fire trucks raced by.

What is going on?

The answer to that, was that a local farm family was watching their world come to a screeching halt. Located on County Hwy. R, in the Town of Cleveland, west of Cornell, the Clark family farm sits on a picturesque plot of land, home to the popular Spring Creek Meats store.

Hannah Clark and Carl Popple, owners of Spring Creek Meats, had finished chores and were sitting down to supper, when a car drove up to the house, honking. The couple ran outside and the driver of the vehicle informed the pair that the dairy barn was on fire, which could not be seen from the house.

Running to the burning building, Hannah and Carl began trying to save the cows housed inside. While Hannah worked to undo the chain on the outside gate for the dry cows to run through to safety, Carl somehow got inside the barn, to open the other gate for the milk cows. He was also able to save a newborn calf and carry it out of the blaze, while many of the dry cows got out on their own.

“Once we had things opened up, we disconnected power and started getting anything away from the building that we could,” said Hannah.

By that time, their neighbors had arrived and helped remove what equipment, records, meat and memorabilia that they could. It’s fortunate the duo had such close neighbors, as Hannah’s parents, Paul and Amy Clark, were out of town, but close enough that Amy, the Cornell Area Ambulance Service director, could hear the call on her pager.

“I’m not sure we’ve ever felt more helpless, than at that moment,” said Amy.

Although 911 was immediately called and fire units came from Cornell, Cadott, Boyd, Sheldon, Eagle Point, Bloomer and even Gilman, it was no use. The blaze was extinguished in about 90 minutes, but the building is likely a total loss, along with countless cows, who were either trapped by the fire or too scared to attempt an escape.

The firefighters entered the building to do what they could and when an animal emerged, people outside corralled them. Unfortunately, many of the cows had to be put down, which was taken care of by the Cornell firefighters, out of compassion for the animals and the humans who cared for them.

“Our cows have never been just a number/business,” said Amy, who says she is grateful to the department for taking the responsibility of ending the cattles’ lives out of her husband’s hands. “Everything you did for us did not go unnoticed...it is SO VERY APPRECIATED.”

While Amy and Paul did not return home in time to hear the horrific sounds as the animals faced the fire, they’re still grieving over the loss, as are Hannah and Carl. “With that said, it’s going to take some time to clean up the pieces,” said Hannah.

The family plans to continue with their meat business, but in a reduced capacity for the time being. If, and when, a new store is constructed, normality will return, but, until then, they will operate under a pick-up order method, with hopes to be open for sales by Saturday, Feb. 10.

Too many people to count were on-hand that fateful night, as well as the next day, and offers of help afterward continue to pour in, which eases the sting of the loss.

“I truly cannot say enough about our thoughtful and supportive community,” said Hannah.