Fire

I'm not sure where to begin telling the story of our night last night. We were singing two and half hours from home when we got a call from a neighbor. She said, "Do you know your barn is on fire?" That conversation was followed by dozens of phone calls to everyone we knew as we tried to figure out what was happening at home. We heard from one neighbor that our barn was completely engulfed. Another told us there were eight fire engines and dozens and dozens of firefighters. It was a very tense two hours as we started for home. The main cause of concern were our nine horses, who were locked in two corrals next to the barn. We knew six of the nine could get away from the heat, but Bristol's old mare and our two colts were in a small corral between our two barns and there was no way they could've gotten out. Every cell phone in our bus was busy as we called friends who went immediately to try to find the horses, the vet across the road who was trying to count them, and our cousin Eric, a firefighter in Lincoln who went to the scene. Finally, we got a phone call from a friend who told us all the horses were accounted for. There was such relief! We learned that the sheriff had gone very close to the fire and gotten our mare and colts out and into the pasture. We are so grateful!

However, with this good news, we also learned that our two barns and our shed were completely destroyed. Upon arriving home, there were still five trucks and a dozen firefighters there, and we weren't prepared for what we found.

The remains of our 50' x 70' barn

Firefighters packing up their hoses. The entire ground was a lake of water.

Facing the smaller barn and shed.

We were up past 4am talking with investigators. The cause of fire was "undetermined with possible electric failure." We don't know of anything that could've started the flames, except for a tank heater that was plugged into a new electrical outlet.

We had to cancel our morning service this morning, and before some of us were even awake, neighbors Scott and Rod Holman came with a trailer load of fencing panels to help us put our corral back up so the horses could get to water. Waking up to friends waiting to help us was an overwhelming encouragement.

Seeing the destruction in the daylight was even more unimaginable. These are the remains of our shed.

The "milking barn," was more than fifty feet from the barn, but caught the sparks and lit also. This is the corral our mare and colts were in. They wouldn't have survived if the sheriff hadn't taken them out.

The other horses broke through a wooden fence and we're still trying to figure out how they made it to the safety of the pasture. We suspect someone opened a gate to the pasture.

A bit left on the floor of our tack room. Possibly the biggest disappointment for us is in losing all of our tack to the fire. We found out today that insurance covers only the structure of the building, and none of its contents. We lost eight saddles and all our bridles, halters, leadropes, saddlebags and etc. to the fire.

The tack room. We also lost all of our bikes.

One of the little one's saddles

Damage was also done to three of our vehicles that were parked near the barn. This is Avery's pickup that has intense damage done to the right side. Thankfully, we have full coverage that will cover our vehicles after deductables.

The fire this morning, still burning a pile of hay.



The big barn a couple months ago. It was built in 1909 and we are very sorry to lose it!

The remainer of the barn.

We have already been blessed by neighbors and friends and family who have come to our house today, offering their help and support. We have a lot of work to do to get the property cleaned up and a new barn built.

We have many praises, and want to share them with you!

• Safety for all of the horses!
• Quick responding firefighters who kept the fire from our forest and house
• Friends and family to call who went immediately to help with the situation
• Money to erect a new barn
• Family and friends
• Time at home to clean up, organize and rebuild

If it ever comes to your mind, pray for:

• Wisdom in planning and organizing a clean-up day
• Favor with the insurance company
• Wisdom in erecting a new barn. Right now we are looking at replacing the barn with a pole barn, and are considering options for a new tack room.
• Avenues for finding and affording tack

We'll do our best to keep you posted over the next few days. Praise God for His mercy in keeping everyone safe!