EAST HAMPTON- Fourteen dairy cows were killed in an East Hampton barn fire Thursday.
Firefighters were able to save two other cows. A passerby called police after seeing black smoke rising out of the Cedar Ridge Dairy Farm. The East Hampton Fire Department was called to the scene and eventually had to call in mutual aid from surrounding towns, including Portland and Colchester.
“We’re a small town volunteer fire department, none of the departments have a lot of manpower during the day,” East Hampton Assistant Chief Peter Freund said.
Due to the extreme cold, firefighters had to cut through ice in a nearby lake to pump extra water for the fire.
“There’s a pond at the bottom of the hill so one of the trucks had to cut through the ice to get access to the water,” Freund said.
The property owners were not home during the time of the fire.
There were no injuries to people were reported. The State Fire Marshal is currently investigating the cause of the fire.