Newport — One by one, firefighters lassoed pigs that were inside a burning livestock barn at Val’s Hobby Farm on Brown Road and dragged them to safety on Monday.
Each pig resisted and squealed before collapsing onto the ground a few feet away from the smoking structure. An emergency medical technician greeted each one and held an oxygen mask over their snouts while a firefighter dumped water onto their backs to cool them off.
After a few minutes, each pig recovered, stood up and wandered toward a nearby pen, where they likely will stay until William and Valerie Sanborn figure out plans for the future.
The Sanborns roamed around their property on Monday afternoon and watched in awe as firefighters rescued all seven swines and battled the two-alarm blaze.
“They saved all my pigs!” Valerie Sanborn said with joy and a sigh of relief. “I want to thank the departments.”
Several chickens perished in the 12:30 p.m. fire, which is believed to have started in an old pole barn situated behind the livestock barn. Other poultry, including peacocks and roosters, survived.
No one was injured.
Crews from as far away as Lempster and New London lined John Stark Highway at the end of Brown Road, a short dead end street across from the town Transfer Station.
Newport Fire Chief Wayne Conroy was one of the first people on scene. He said he has never faced a similar situation.
“When I got up to the barn door, all of the sudden I heard this big grunt and squealing and there was so much smoke that I couldn’t see,” Conroy said. “The next thing I knew, a pig was coming out through the door. He wanted out and he wasn’t stopping for nobody. I have never had an animal come at me like that.”
Come to find out, that pig was the mother of several four-to-five-month old piglets who were still inside the burning barn.
The chief and his crew immediately started extinguishing the fire the best they could until more manpower arrived. The pole barn was up in flames, as was the nearby woods and the back of the livestock barn.
“We had our hands full for a minute,” Conroy said.
Fortunately, neighboring crews arrived quickly.
A vehicle, a four wheeler, a tractor and other equipment inside the pole barn were destroyed. Several hay bales were also scorched.
The livestock barn was still standing late Monday afternoon, but a good portion of the rear suffered extensive fire damage. The chief said it’s likely a total loss.
The Sanborns have homeowners insurance. They plan to rebuild.
The couple wasn’t home at the time of the fire; a neighbor called them when she saw flashing lights nearby.
Conway wasn’t sure who called 911. The Sunapee Fire Department was toned out for a “column of smoke” in the air shortly before Newport received a similar call in the area of Brown Road. He thinks the two calls were related.
Crews remained on scene for several hours after the fire was extinguished to put out hot spots. Firefighters pawed through debris and pried open the hood of a charred vehicle to search for a potential origin.
The chief said the burn pattern of the fire leads officials to believe that a spark from the SUV or four wheeler may have started the blaze. Because he couldn’t say so with absolute certainty, the cause was labeled as undetermined.
As the day went on, the spooked mother pig still hadn’t returned home; William Sanborn said he hoped she would show her face soon. Meanwhile, the other pigs napped in a cluster in the shade.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.