Fire destroys barn; neighbors save animals

A six-alarm fire destroyed an 1800s-era barn north of Algoma Monday, but a neighbor who called in the fire also rescued animals in the barn before the fire department arrived.

A UPS driver alerted Mike and Jesse Herrick to flames he spotted in a barn next to the home of Mike and Jill Neubert, who live at N8325 County M in the town of Ahnapee, about 2 p.m.   Jesse had another family member call the fire department and then drove his truck down to the barn, where he was able to rescue a Shetland pony, goat, steer and donkey that were pets of the Neubert's children.

Fire Chief Tom Ackerman of the Algoma Fire Department said the barn was in flames when they arrived and fire departments from Southern Door, Kewaunee, Casco, Luxemburg and Carlton were called to the scene. The barn was destroyed and no cause for the fire had initially been determined, Ackerman said.

"The barn is a total loss – I had equipment in there, but a neighbor got the animals out," said Mike Neubert.  He said two chickens kept in the barn had not been located.

Neubert said that the wood barn with a stone foundation was built in the late 1800s. He and his wife and their two children have lived there for about 10 years, he said.

Jill Neubert said that the neighbors had called her and her husband at work after they called the fire department and Jill picked up the children at school.  There was no damage to their home.

As dozens of firefighters finished cleaning up after the fire, the rescued animals were grazing in an adjacent field.

"I am so glad they rescued my pony; he was the last thing my grandfather gave me," said the Neuberts' daughter, Natalie. She said that the pony named "Winnie" was given to her as a gift by her late grandfather.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Fire destroys barn; neighbors save animals