Garry R. Kibler Sr. stands Monday near the fire-damaged barn at the Kibler Farm along Highland Avenue in Lordstown. In the background are Lordstown firefighters, who continued dousing the flames well into the afternoon.

LORDSTOWN — A well-known family dairy farm that has been a cornerstone of the Lordstown community since the 1940s fell victim to a fire early Monday.

Multiple fire crews from the surrounding areas were called to the Kibler Dairy Farm in the 5100 block of Highland Avenue around 5:30 a.m., according to a dispatch call log.

“While it looks bad,” Garry Kibler Sr. said, things could’ve been worse adding, “We were very fortunate that it didn’t spread and that there were several fire departments here working on putting it out.”

He and about nine other members of the Kibler family were home when the blaze began.

“I looked out the window this morning and saw a glow on the one end of the barn,” Kibler said. “I was shocked by that, but by the time I got out there, it was fully engulfed.”

Of the 700 animals housed on the approximately 560 acres of land, Kibler said only an adult pig and her three piglets died in the fire. But Kibler says that could change as some of the pigs suffered from smoke inhalation after they had been inside for a “long time,” he said.

“A veterinarian looked at them and left some pain medicine for them so it’s a wait and see right now if they can heal up,” Kibler said.

Kibler said his grandparents moved to the area in 1910 and purchased the farm in 1943.

“My grandparents passed it on to my father and then they passed it on to me,” Kibler said.

After him, Garry Kibler Sr. said he passed the farm on to his sons, Garry Kibler Jr. and Cory Kibler.

The fire covered only a small amount of acreage as it primarily affected a bank barn where he said the family stored equipment, hay / stray but also housed some beef cows that were unharmed.

Late into the afternoon, Kibler said fire crews were still trying to make sure that the fire had been completely stamped out.

He said crews hauled a large pile of straw out of the barn and

hauled it away from the area as smoke still was emitting from the pile.

Kibler said the fire mostly stayed central to the barn, but the heat from the flames did melt vinyl siding on a couple of nearby buildings.

He says the flames did not extend toward the barn where the family housed its dairy cows.

DAMAGE ESTIMATION

Kibler estimated that about $100,000 in damages resulted from the barn, which he said was a total loss. Kibler said four skid steer loaders, a tractor with a straw chopper and two lawn mowers also were lost in the fire.

In the aftermath Kibler says the family “will get by for the next few weeks,” as they were able to salvage one skid steer and borrow another, “we’ll just have to be looking to buy something ourselves,” he said, as the family works on their next steps.

Kibler explained that skid steer is what they use to clean the barn with and mix feed.

Despite what they lost, Kibler said the family is grateful that with bigger barns nearby that things weren’t worse.

“After insurance checks things out, we’ll have to get things cleaned up and then we gotta decide what we’re gonna do whether we’re gonna build something else. We could use it, I know that,” Kibler said.