Historic barn is casualty in New Year's Eve blaze

CORNWALL — The last day of the year in Cornwall found town residents banding together against the ravages of a fire that claimed a historic barn on the Scoville farm on Town Street.

Firefighters were called just before 8 a.m. on Dec. 31. Ralph and Thalia Scoville were just beginning their day in the farmhouse when neighbor Susan Gingert drove by. She knew the Scovilles use an outdoor wood-burning furnace for heat, but there seemed to be too much smoke. She was right. Some of the smoke was coming from a corner of one of three barns on the property.

Thalia Scoville got a phone call that sent her to a window where she could see that corner of the barn. Falling snow made it difficult to tell, but she wasted no time, making phone calls that got family and emergency workers to the scene.

Over the course of a frigid, snowy day that followed, firefighters from Cornwall, Sharon and Goshen battled a blaze fueled in great part by 10,000 bales of hay in the barn loft. The volunteers broke through ice and drained a pond across the road and ran large diameter hoses down to Cream Hill Lake. Tankers responding to a mutual aid call converged on the scene.

“There’s never enough water with a fire like that,� firefighter and First Selectman Gordon Ridgway said. “There is so much fuel, the old barn wood and hay. It’s pretty rare that we can do anything more than save surrounding buildings.�

An 1800s barn

That’s exactly what happened. The large dairy barn, last used for that purpose in 2006 (when the Scoville’s gave up the unprofitable business of milk production) was not the oldest on the property, according to Ridgway, although parts of it date back to the early 1800s.

Additions over the years have doubled its original size.

“A smaller barn, which is much older, began to smoke,� Ridgway said. “We put that out and kept a close eye on it.�

The devastation was so great that a cause may never be determined. An investigation by fire marshals points to an electrical malfunction.

Fire Marshal Mike Fitting said the cause is officially “undetermined.�

“It was definitely accidental, and most probably electrical. There were two or three different areas in the milk house that we looked at, working from interviews with those who were first on the scene and where they said the fire seemed to start,� Fitting said.

No animals were harmed

It was the same sort of situation firefighters faced in Copake Dec. 17, where three barns burned at Snook Hill Farm. About 35 cows were killed when they became trapped in one of the barns.

The Scovilles’ grandsons, Fred and Steve, now operate the farm, where an assortment of animals are kept. Fred Scoville, who is also a volunteer fireman, sustained the only reported injury of the day, when he aggravated an existing cut on his hand in his determined effort to clear animals from the burning barn.

A small herd of heifers was moved to an open shed on another part of the farm. A pen was constructed for the pigs. A flock of chickens was taken to the Ridgway farm down the road.

“One chicken is in our bathtub,â€� Ridgway said. “Some of its feathers were burned. My kids are nursing it back to health. Between our  ‘spa’ and three squares a day, I think it will be fine.â€�

The smoke had barely cleared and the insurance adjuster was yet to arrive when Thalia Scoville spoke to The Lakeville Journal a few days later. For the Scovilles, there is no question: They will rebuild.

The Scovilles were among the families who first settled Cornwall, and a farm has been operated on this land ever since, through numerous generations.

The barn had become an icon in town. It has the December page in a 2010 calendar of Cornwall barn photos sold as a Cornwall Historical Society fundraiser.

“A lot of us grew up in and around that barn,� Ridgway said.

‘We were lucky’

Thalia Scoville said the family is fine and does not need help of any sort at this point.

“We’ll do what we have to do. We were lucky. We still have the house. We just have to get past it and keep going.�

On Monday, Fitting said an insurance company representative had been to the farm and seemed to have everything needed for a claim. There were two policies, one on the structure and another on the contents. Fitting said it seems likely that will cover the cost of replacing the hay.

Nonetheless, a fund has been established by the town to help with immediate needs and to help rebuild.

“Insurance never ends up being enough,� Ridgway said. “They will also have immediate expenses. We want to at least help them through the winter.�

Donations can be made at the National Iron Bank. Checks should be made payable to “Scoville Family Farm Fund.�

The Cornwall Agricultural Commission is also planning a potluck dinner and auction fundraiser, with details to be released soon.