Sheep killed in blaze that destroyed Chelsea-area barn
A man takes a photo as he watches over sheep near where firefighters work to extinguish a fire that destroyed a barn on Thursday afternoon on Harvey Road in Waterloo Township.
J. Scott Park | Mlive.com
A two-story barn on a Waterloo Township farm west of Chelsea was destroyed by a fire Thursday afternoon, MLive reports.
The Chelsea Area Fire Authority was dispatched to the fire in the 1400 block of Harvey Road in Waterloo Township at 12:34 p.m.
As of 2 p.m., firefighters still were fighting the smoldering foundation and beams, but the fire had burned much of the barn.
Chelsea Fire Authority Chief Jim Payeur told MLive that 14 to 16 lambs or sheep were inside the barn. A passerby was able to get some of the animals out, but not all were saved.
Chelsea was assisted by fire departments from Stockbridge, Manchester, Unadilla and Scio townships.
Read the initial MLive story and see additional pictures of the fire.
Read an update on the animals.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
mike
Sat, Feb 9, 2013 : 12:08 a.m.
thats my old barn :(
Timber
Fri, Feb 8, 2013 : 4:30 p.m.
Oh how sad "Mary T" ... That the owners father had a heart attack and passed on his way to the fire. What a tragedy for this family ... My prayers are with them. Thank goodness a passerby was able to stop and rescue some of the animals. Kudo's to this person!
MaryT
Fri, Feb 8, 2013 : 4:44 p.m.
Having a death OR a fire is enough to deal with. It just hurts my heart for the family that they have to deal with both.
mady
Fri, Feb 8, 2013 : 3:19 p.m.
Poor babies, and no I'm not being sarcastic. sign me, an animal lover from the word go
MaryT
Fri, Feb 8, 2013 : 2:30 p.m.
And the sidebar to this very sad story is even sadder. One of the owner's fathers, enroute to the fire, had a heart attack and passed away before getting to his daughter's farm.
HereAndThere
Thu, Feb 7, 2013 : 11:37 p.m.
Why don't animals have a way to get out if they are trapped inside of a burning barn? I don't get it! Maybe I'm just stupid, but I'm sick of hearing about animals dying in barn fires!!!
Major
Thu, Feb 7, 2013 : 11:53 p.m.
I'm going to go with...opposable thumbs?
K32
Thu, Feb 7, 2013 : 11:50 p.m.
They need to be closed in for protection from coyotes and dogs, both of which kill far, far more sheep than the very rare barn fires.
dading dont delete me bro
Thu, Feb 7, 2013 : 11:10 p.m.
better map for you: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&bvm=bv.42080656,d.aWM&biw=1280&bih=619&wrapid=tlif136027854189410&q=1400+harvey+rd,+waterloo,+mi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x883cd190161d0b59:0x42076337c01bc4cb,Harvey+Rd,+Waterloo,+MI&gl=us&sa=X&ei=IDQUUcaBLILQyAHc4IDICQ&ved=0CC0Q8gEwAA
justcurious
Thu, Feb 7, 2013 : 10:36 p.m.
This is very sad. I'm sorry to hear about these animals. They must have been terrified.