The bright orange glow in the early-evening sky could be seen for miles, alerting people something big was burning.

And it was big … a large, three-section dairy barn on the Queen’s Line near the Magnesium Road intersection.

Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Friday, firefighters from all five Whitewater Region fire stations were paged to a fire at Gouldhaven Farms.

“When we arrived, it was fully engulfed,” Fire Chief Jonathan McLaren said Monday morning.

About 55 firefighters responded, battling the blaze with five pumpers, two tankers, a rescue unit and two utility vehicles, he said. Water was pumped from the Ottawa River at the Acres Boat Launch.

Firefighters used the defensive method for fighting the blaze, as the barn was too far gone to save, however, there were nearby buildings and “the priority was to save them,” Chief McLaren explained.

As far as he knew, most of the cattle were out of the building.

“There were concerns with the three silos,” he said. “We weren’t sure if the fire would spread to the interior or if they would collapse.”

Whether or not they can be saved will be determined by professionals, Chief McLaren said.

Most of the firefighters were sent home about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, with a crew remaining to monitor the situation. He noted the morning after the fire, several firefighters returned and with the help of an excavator from Sullivan Construction Company spreading the debris, they were able to extinguish the hotspots.

Chief McLaren said the cause of the blaze is undetermined and may never be known.

Jason Gould, who co-owns Gouldhaven Farms with his wife Michelle, parents Vera and Barry Gould, and brother Scott and wife Jen, recalled being at his Forester’s Falls home Friday evening, just finishing supper, when his mom called and said the barn’s on fire. He could see the glow in the sky from his home and once he reached the Queen’s Line, he could see the flames.

He, along with his wife, brother, dad, neighbour Keeley Campbell and employee Brian Vanderploeg worked hard to get the (milking) cows out of the tie-style facility.

“Keeley and Jen unhooked them and I was behind them pushing them to get out of the barn,” he explained. “Dad and Scott got the heifers and dry cows out.”

While he’s not sure who called 911, Jason said Keeley was calling 911 while running towards the barn but hung up because he couldn’t hear anything.

Earlier in the day, Vera Gould said a woman who was at the fire told her she had called 911.

“I’m not sure who she was,” she said. “She had the civic number and called.

“No idea who the lady is,” Vera said. “She’s a good woman to do that. She even walked around, back and forth.

“When she and her husband were leaving, she came and said, ‘we’re praying for you’.”

Jason said Derek Sweeney was at the barn preparing to take his hoof-trimming chute home when he smelled smoke.

“He ran to the house, opened the door and shouted ‘fire at the barn’,” he said.

While his father ran out to the barn, his mom was making phone calls to alert he and his brothers, Scott and Brent.

As far as he knows, Jason said the fire started in the hay mow, which is on the second floor, as he could see flames in the corner and boards had started to fall from above.

He said 14 of the milk cows died in the blaze because the cows that had gotten out seemed to be turning around to go back into the barn, so the doors had to be shut.

The family has been breeding their own cow genetics for decades, Jason said. The dairy farm has been in the family since 1913.

“We saved 39 milk cows, of 53, and lost nine calves. This was one of the best groups of calves and they were lost in the fire.”

As for the silos, Jason said whether they have to come down or not will be determined by engineers. He’s sure the cement slab silo will most likely have to be torn down, while there’s hope of saving the cement-poured and the steel Harvestore silos.

“They’re all full,” he said. “The first has corn, the second haylage and the third high-moisture corn.”

The night of the fire, Jason said the milk cows were trailered to the Enright farm on Pine Valley Road, formerly the farm of Kevin and Nancy Agnew, as it was still possible to milk cows there. The dry cows and eight-to-12-month-old calves will soon be at this farm as well.

The remainder will stay at Preston and Jeff Cull’s farm on Rice Line (the former Basil Wren farm).

Recalling the night of the fire, Jason said the number of people who came that night to help was amazing.

“There was a crazy number of people who were there at our neighbours (Van Lindenbergs) where the cows were first taken,” he said, which was by walking behind them to the barn. “There were people from across Renfrew County and even some from the Pontiac (in Quebec).

“Trailers, about 10 of them, were used to move the cows that night, because they had to be milked.”

He explained they milk three times a day.

“I stayed with the cattle while dad and Scott went to the Enright farm,” Jason said. “When I got there about 25 people were helping, and that was at 1:30 in the morning.”

The farming community knows how to pull together, he said.

“We thank the Enright family, JT, Joe, Eddie and their families,” he said. “They’re giving us what we want and need.”

He noted the hay and corn silage, which is the feed for the milk cows, was lost in the blaze.

“We are feeding what the Enrights are feeding their cows, but we don’t want to be a burden.

“We’re trying to be self-sufficient and not depend on other people,” Jason said.

Looking to the future, he said Gouldhaven Farms will rebuild.

“I’m not sure how long before we can build. We’re hoping a year from now we’ll be back home.”