Out of the Ashes: Community raises new barn after blaze
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ST. IGNATIUS — Many hands make light work, a fact J.R. and Nancy Troyer were extra thankful for last week. With the help of a couple dozen friends and neighbors in their Amish community, the destruction caused by a sudden fire on March 27 was transformed into a new beginning in less than a week.
Around 1 or 2 a.m. Sunday, March 27, the Troyers awoke to see their 5,000-square-foot shop consumed with flames.
“It was flat in an hour or two,” J.R. said.
By the time the St. Ignatius Volunteer Fire Department arrived, the building was a total loss. Firefighters extinguished the blaze and let a hay pile of around 200 square bales burn out, fire chief Ray Frey said. He couldn’t be sure what started the fire, but said signs seemed to point to an electrical fire.
“It was really hard to pinpoint (the source) because the damage was so great,” Frey said.
Bicycles, buggies, tools, tack and several appliances were among the casualties of the fire, as well as chairs set up for a worship service held at the Troyers’ shop each week.
“There were 80 to 100 chairs waiting for Sunday morning service and the roof collapsed on it,” J.R. said.
But he emphasized that things could’ve been much worse, and no humans or animals were hurt in the fire.
“The wife and the family are what’s important,” he said. “I didn’t lose anything that can’t be replaced.”
Monday morning, just 24 hours after the barn went up in flames, Jake Yoder and Jerry Miller organized a group of men to start cleaning up the mess, and by evening, “everything was ready to pour concrete,” J.R. said. “Everybody just jumped up and was ready to help.”
“It was amazing how fast (clean-up went) … there was a heap of rubble Monday morning,” Miller said.
With J.R.’s construction expertise — he owns Mission Creek Log Homes — and the help of around 20 “very, very willing” volunteers, most of whom had some building experience, a new shop about half the size of the original building was standing complete except for finishing work by Saturday.
“I guess where there’s a lot of people, things happen fast,” Yoder said with a smile.
