PRAIRIE GROVE -- Neighbors, friends and other farmers went to work helping Scott and Cassie Davis after they lost their milking barn to a fire caused by a lightning strike April 13.
Scott and Cassie Davis own Davis Riverview Farms, a dairy farm located outside Prairie Grove on 12289 Pearson Ranch Road. The family was named the 2012 Washington County Farm Family of the Year and also received the Arkansas Farm Bureau 2013 Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement Award.
The couple had to transport 152 dairy cows to other farms so the animals could be milked. Cassie Davis said seven trucks and trailers were used to relocate the cows to two farms, one in Washington County and one in Benton County.
"People took time out of their day to haul cows for a few hours," Davis said. "We were extra blessed with neighbors, friends and other farmers."
She estimated at least 50 people helped them haul cows, clean up after the fire and offered food and support.
"Scott and I are so appreciative," she said. "I can't talk about it without choking up. It's overwhelming. We are appreciative and grateful for everyone. There's not enough words."
She added, "I want the community to know how much we appreciate them. They've made it manageable."
Davis said they heard a close lightning strike that night and lost electricity for about 30 seconds. About 9:30 p.m., someone knocked on their door and they assumed it was someone asking for directions. When they didn't quickly open the door, a neighbor, who had been driving home, began hollering.
The farm's milking barn was on fire.
Davis said she looked out the window and saw flames coming from the barn. She immediately called 911.
The fire destroyed the milking barn and all equipment inside it. Davis estimated the loss at $75,000. She said the building was insured and work to rebuild will begin immediately.
Unless someone is a farmer or knows about farming, it's hard to explain what it means to lose a milking barn, Davis said.
"If my family's safety was guaranteed, you would rather lose a house than your dairy barn," Davis said. "Losing your only way to make money is difficult."
At the same time, she said "faith and farming" go hand in hand and and she and her husband are not looking at the loss as a tragedy.
"We have faith that God has a plan. We choose to look at it as an opportunity to better our operation, rather than we are victims."
Firefighters from Prairie Grove, Farmington and Wedington fire departments responded to the barn fire that night, said Jason Bromley, administrative assistant with Prairie Grove Fire Department.
Mark Cunningham, Farmington fire chief, said he was first on the scene with a fire truck and saw flames "shooting out every opening in the barn." He said flames were probably as high as 20 feet in the air.
Firefighters had the fire under control in about 20 minutes and they remained on the scene until about 11:30 p.m., Cunningham said.
Dennis Ledbetter, Washington County fire marshal, confirmed last week the fire was caused by a lightning strike.
No animals were in the barn at the time, said Davis. However, the couple did lose one dairy cow out in the field to a lightning strike. She said it's not uncommon to lose animals to lightning strikes.
The farm's milking process was very intensive. Machines would milk 18 cows at a time for an average of seven minutes per cow. It would take about three hours to milk all cows, beginning at 2 a.m. each day. The process would start all over again 12 hours later.
Davis said their cows will continue to be milked twice a day at the other farms by their own workers and the animals will remain off site until the dairy barn is rebuilt and equipped.
"We have to milk them or they would get very sick," Davis said, expressing her thankfulness for the loyalty of their hired help.
General News on 04/23/2014