Vermont farm family loses more than 100 cows in barn fire

STOWE, Vt. (WCAX) - A Vermont family farm is grieving the loss of more than 100 cattle after a fire ripped through their barn.

“This is my home,” said Paul Percy, one of the owners of the Percy Family Farm in Stowe.

The farm opened in 1930.

At about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, his barn housing more than 100 cattle and several pieces of equipment was fully engulfed in flames.

“We didn’t get any of them out,” Percy said. “There were some calves in that other barn; we got them out. But it was so hot the fire department couldn’t stop that one from burning. That one got a little fire, too.”

Percy was in Florida at the time.

He says crews had been using a skid-steer-- machinery used to clean the barn-- earlier in the afternoon. Inspectors say that could be why the barn caught fire.

“It was gone before the fire department got here. They called them at 11:30 and by 2 o’clock it was totally gone,” Percy said.

More than seven departments responded to the initial call.

While that barn is a total loss, Percy says the farm is still operational.

“I’ve got another farm that we milk cows on and that one is perfectly fine. But I’m going to miss this one,” he said.

Percy says he’s working with his son Ryan to figure out what the next steps will be. With nearly 1,000 acres of land combined between the two locations, the hope is to build from the ground up come spring.

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