Calving barn burns in Hot Springs

Matt Unrau

Valley Press

Early Wednesday afternoon smoke could be seen billowing skyward Northeast of Hot Springs.

At approximately 1:45 p.m. Rebel Carr came back to his house and saw the calving shed in the yard enflamed.

Immediately, he ran to the building and chased the bulls and four 4-H calves out of the shed.

He then called 911 and waited for the Hot Springs Fire and Rescue.

Assistant Chief Glenn Magera and fireman Sean Estill were the first on the scene about 20 minutes after the original call.

As both men were volunteer firefighters they had to rush away from their work, Magera as a rancher and Estill as the Hot Springs Elementary Principal.

When Magera and Estill arrived the calving shed and neighboring shed were fully enflamed.

Without hope to save those two sheds the firemen then worked on doing everything they could to save the pump house and the 4-H project barn.

“When we arrived even if we could have knocked down the fire instantly, it still would’ve been a total loss,” says Estill. He goes on to explain that their goal in any fire is to first “protect life and then savable property.”

Carr thinks that the fire started from the electrical wiring in the calving shed.

There is no official word on the start of the fire. Hot Springs Fire and Rescue can call the state fire investigator, but they are only called on suspicious fires.

“For these types of fires that only happens if for example the building is empty of property when the fire occurs,” explains Fire Chief Magera. In this case when the fire occurred the shed had both livestock and other valuable property inside.

While working to save the pump house several neighbors helped to clear saddles and other personal items from the pump house. They also moved larger items such as a round bale feeder from the immediate danger area using a chain and an ATV.

After succeeding in saving the pump house and 4-H project shed the firemen spent the next hour searching for hot spots and dousing them with water.

Although Carr lives on the property, the sheds are actually owned by Paul Grieco who lives two miles away from the property. He moved to Hot Springs in 1997 and bought the place in 2001. Grieco was one of the last people to find out about the fire driving up to the fire about an hour after the initial blaze.

“I see all this smoke and I decided to come over and see what is going on,” says Grieco who was shocked to discover that it was his property that was on fire. “I’m at a loss for words,” says Grieco. “You just really hate to see something like this happen.”

Grieco who doesn’t have insurance on the buildings isn’t sure what he’s going to do in the immediate future, but plans to rebuild something. “We’ll rebuild,” says Grieco. “We’ll put something up there.”

For the immediate future Grieco does have another calving barn on a nearby piece of property across Highway XX. He’ll be able to do handle next year’s calving season by using this barn.

It was the second barn fire in the last month for Hot Springs Fire and Rescue, which handles both rural and city fires. In total Hot Springs Fire and Rescue brought four vehicles and five men to the fire. When they received the call they also called the Plains Rural Fire Department for mutual aid.

“The nice thing about here is that you’re small enough that when you holler for help, no one really complains about coming,” says Estill. Plains brought two trucks and six men to the fire.