Fire destroys Alburgh barn, kills 20 farm animals

ALBURGH, Vt. (WCAX) - A devastating fire killed 20 animals at a farm in Alburgh. The property owner could only watch as the wind-whipped fire destroyed her barn.

“Knowing that there was nothing I could do and replaying that in my mind again and again and again is excruciating,” Kerry Juaire said.

Juaire checked in on her barn around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday and then got ready for bed.

Around 11:20 p.m., she looked out her back window to see the barn in flames.

Inside were 20 animals, including horses, cows, lambs and chickens. All of them died.

Juaire said it happened in a flash.

“Everything that took place here last night was so fast. It went from normal to complete devastation in an hour,” she said. “So be aware and pay attention to what’s going on whether it be your barn or garage or whatever.”

Even one of the firefighters who lives just across the street says it was a challenging fire due to intense wind that sent embers flying everywhere.

“I looked out just prior before we got that page and I saw nothing. And it was only a minute and a half that I looked outside that we got the page and it was fully engulfed when I went out the door,” Alburgh Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Deyo said.

The wind was so strong, embers from the barn ignited a neighboring mobile home, completely gutting it.

Her husband’s work truck was also destroyed.

For the past two years, Juaire has been working her way to creating a therapy center where kids could come be with the animals. Now, that is on hold.

But there is a silver lining. Three horses were out in the pasture when the blaze broke out, saving their lives.

Juaire says she lives in an amazing community that is helping her deal with the deadly fire.

“It’s been overwhelming,” she said. “They are very supportive and I couldn’t ask to live in a better place.”

We still don’t know what started that fire.

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