Hay shed at dairy farm catches fire

BENTON COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Smoke filled the sky surrounding Seven Hills Dairy Farm in Benton County Saturday afternoon after a hay shed caught fire.

"We got called out here and it was probably about 80% engulfed. We've got representatives from a dozen fire departments out here hauling water in from nearby towns," Chief of Goodland Fire Department, Jeff Miller said.

Owner of Seven Hills Dairy Farm, Hank Sevenhuysen said an employee noticed smoke coming from this hay shed. But in the matter of minutes, the entire shed filled with thousands of bales of straw and hay, was up in flames.

"We've got about a couple thousand big square straw bales and I believe there was about 500 bales of hay that is pretty much destroyed," Henk Sevenhuysen said.

Fire officials said with dry conditions and high wind speeds, they faced several challenges while fighting this fire.

"The wind is blowing through here and the fire beneath the surface of the hay, it will appear to be out but the wind will pick it up and will re-ignite everything. We've got to drag it out and soak it," Miller said.

Seven Hills Dairy Farm is home to about 2,500 cattle. Sevenhuysen said while the shed and thousands of bales of straw is a complete loss, he's just thankful the fire didn't spread to other parts of the farm.

"The animals are absolutely 100% fine. The wind is coming out of the right direction so they don't smell the smoke so they're just happy cows," Sevenhuysen said.

At this time, the cause of the fire is under investigation.