N.Y. Barn Destroyed, Cows Die in Suspicious Fire

BANGOR, N.Y. -- A suspicious fire killed more than 100 cows and destroyed a barn early Monday at a Bangor farm worked by a father and son.

Choiniere Farm and Equipment, also owned by Alain and Andre Choiniere and situated at 2712 Route 11B, was not damaged, nor was the farmhouse sitting in front of the barn and silos.

But besides the cattle, more than 11,500 bales of hay and assorted farm equipment were lost.

Nine fire departments responded to the blaze, which was reported at 1:07 a.m. Firefighters stayed until almost 8 a.m.

Dense smoke, which could be smelled three-quarters of a mile away, was still rising in columns from the smouldering remains at 11:30 a.m.

Bangor firefighters returned at 1:03 p.m. to spray another 15,000 gallons of water on the fire when it rekindled. The volunteers were back at their station by 2:20 p.m.

No one lives at the farm property, but Andre and his wife, Mandy, live next door to the east, with Alain's home farther east beyond there.

Mandy had gotten up to tend to their 5-month-old son, Andrew, and noticed the time: 12:32 a.m.

Their kitchen window faces the farm and is closest to the hay loft.

She settled the baby back down after a few minutes, "and something told me to get a drink of water. I never get a drink, but I went the sink and looked out. But I didn't see anything."

Mandy said she went back to bed only to be roused a little after 1 a.m. by a neighbor pounding on their door to tell them about the fire.

"I usually look out the window just to check on the weather and see if it is snowing. But when I got a drink and looked out, I didn't see anything wrong. But 20 minutes later, the neighbor's saying the barn's on fire."

"We called 911 and got in our clothes and went right over," Mandy said.

"But by then, the tin was so hot, you could see through it," Andre said of the barn's roof. "And you couldn't see. There was so much smoke in the barn. It was already gone by the time we got to it."

He said he was able to pull a cattle trailer and a corn planter out of harm's way and was about to go back in for a wagon, "but firefighters had gotten here by then and told us to get out of there."

Andre said he had worked one barn and his father worked the other, and between them, they lost more than 100 head.

He said the family has some insurance, "but it's not enough."

Franklin County Fire Control sent volunteers from Bangor, Dickinson, Moira, St. Regis Falls, Westville, Malone Callfiremen, Brushton and Burke, who used 40,000 gallons of water on the structure. Nicholville firefighters were on standby at the Dickinson Fire Department.

The Choinieres said State Police believe the fire was deliberately set, but the couple said they are not free to talk about the details.

The State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Malone and County Cause and Origin Team members are working to find the exact cause.

Anyone with information is asked to call Malone-based State Police at 483-5000.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service