For the second time in six years, a horse farm in northern Oxford Township was the victim of a destructive fire.
Ginny Benson, owner of Sassafras Farms at 3270 Barber Rd., just north of Oakwood Rd., is understandably discouraged.
‘Honestly, I’m thinking I just want to leave ? sell the place and go,? she said. ‘It’s a sign from God to not be here anymore.?
On Sunday night, a two-story garage with an upstairs studio apartment burned to the ground, taking everything inside with it.
‘The entire building’s a total loss,? said Oxford Fire Chief Pete Scholz.
Per standard procedure, a fire investigator from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office is looking into the incident.
A kerosene heater is the suspected cause of the blaze. It was being used to prevent the garage’s water pipes from freezing. Benson said the heater had been in operation all winter and they ‘never had a problem with it.?
Benson was home when the fire started, but she didn’t become aware of it until her teenage sons, Jake and Nick Parcels, returned from the grocery store and discovered it around 8:46 p.m. The boys tried to douse the flames with water, but they made no impact.
Jake said when they opened the door, the fire ‘got oxygen? and ‘just took off.? Before it spread, the fire was in the area where the kerosene heater was located.
‘You can’t believe how fast (it burned),? Benson said. ‘It was just unbelievable ? like a matchstick.?
The boys tried to rescue some items from the burning building, but they were unsuccessful because the smoke was just too thick to see anything and it was difficult to breathe.
‘It was just solid smoke,? Jake said. ‘It was horrible.?
‘It burned so fast and the smoke was so bad, we couldn’t pull anything out,? said Benson, who has owned the 80-acre horse farm for about 30 years.
Her sons suffered some smoke inhalation, but they were treated and released from the hospital that night, she said.
Jake estimated the structure became ‘a total loss? within 5 minutes of their arrival.
When emergency personnel arrived on scene, the garage was fully engulfed in flames.
Scholz said the fire was officially declared under control at 9:46 p.m. Because there are no fire hydrants in this rural portion of the township, Oxford received aid from neighboring departments in the form of tanker trucks sent by Metamora, Addison and Orion townships.
The fire destroyed three pieces of equipment crucial to the operation of Sassafras Farms, which derives its income from boarding horses. Burned to a crisp were Benson’s round hay baler, square hay baler and tractor.
‘I honestly don’t know how I’m going to stay in business with all my hay equipment gone,? she said. ‘I don’t have any idea what’s covered (by insurance) and what’s not.?
Snowmobiles, firearms, an expensive generator and a freezer full of venison and beef were also lost in the fire.
In the end, Benson is thankful no one was injured or killed. And if she ‘had to lose something,? she’s glad ‘it wasn’t the horse barn or the house? that went up in flames.
Benson is also grateful the fire did not spread to the adjacent barn, which is filled with hay. ‘Right inside that (barn) door, there’s round bales of hay,? Benson said. ‘I was afraid a spark would set that off.?
That’s her winter food supply and if it would have burned, she said, ‘I wouldn’t have had anything to feed the horses.?
Firefighters kept spraying the barn with water to prevent it from catching fire, according to Scholz.
Ironically, this barn was built on the site of the farm’s other big fire.
In May 2009, a blaze destroyed a three-story barn and a two-story barn connected by a shed. In addition to the barns, the fire claimed close to 1,000 bales of hay and killed 44 chickens and turkeys along with a few cats, according to the article in the May 13, 2009 edition of the Leader.
The cause of that fire was officially classified as undetermined, but it was believed to be accidental. At the time, the investigator concluded the use of an electric heat lamp inside the barn to keep the chickens and turkeys warm ‘cannot be ruled out? as the cause.