Animals Killed in Barn Fire
Published: Friday, August 10, 2018
Lightning struck a barn near Middlebury Tuesday morning, resulting in a fire and several animal casualties.
Shawn and Andrew Papcznyski are the owners of the barn. A neighbor woke the couple around 1:30 a.m. and told them their barn was on fire. When Andrew made it outside the barn was only ablaze in the far left corner, but within seconds it spread to the entire barn.
There were three horses in the barn at the time. Two belonged to the Papcznyskis, and the other belonged to another owner. They attempted to get the horses out of the barn but were unable to save them in time.
The three horses and two goats died in the fire. According to Laura Graber, a friend of the Papcznskis, the goats had access to the field and could have easily exited the barn. Hay and horse tack were also lost in the fire.
Three other horses who were boarded at the facility were in the back pasture and were unharmed during the incident.
Graber said the Papcznyskis were thinking about not rebuilding and just putting up a shed to hold feed and grain, but they have not made any decisions yet.
Both of the horses that Graber lost were special to her, Graber said. She tried to save Dodge from the flames, but he ended up going back into the barn with the other two horses.
Graber said Shawn's father bought Dodge as a colt and he ended up selling him to someone. He told the buyer if they ever wanted to sell him again he would buy the horse back. When they did want to sell, her father was sick, so Shawn ended up buying the horse back instead.
"Her dad is still alive, but (the horse) was still kind of a memory of her dad," Graber said.
Shawn has experienced several losses with horses in the past. After she had to put down her horse that had cancer, she swore she would never have any more horses. But Rafiki, who also died in the fire, changed her mind when he was born.
"She actually delivered him as a baby," Graber said. "He was 21 or 22 years old. (When he was born) her dad yelled at her and said 'you get out here now, we've got this mare foaling.' Her dad knew that foal looked just like her old horse. That was Rafiki."
Several other friends and boarders were there to comfort the Papcznskis for their loss.
"I've been around Rafiki and Dodge, and Shawn for a long time," Graber said. "When you lose a horse, to us, they're family."
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