Blake Matthews didn't finish his paper route on time this morning, but he had a good excuse.

Around 4:20 a.m., Matthews was driving along Harvest Drive in Leacock Township when he saw a large dairy barn's roof on fire.

Matthews, who was delivering papers for Lancaster Newspapers Inc., stopped his car immediately.

      Barn fire in Leacock Twp.

"The house next to the barn was only about 30 feet away," the Leola resident said. "That worried me, so I dialed 911, and just laid on my car horn for about five minutes — just in case the people in the home weren't awake."

Fortunately, they already were.

John Fisher, who owns the barn at 3306 Harvest Drive, Jacob Esh and others were already in the barn, leading the Amish farmer's cattle and horses to safety.

Matthews soon joined them.

The group was able to rescue more than 40 cows, a horse and seven mules from the barn, which soon was consumed by the blaze.

The barn was destroyed, a loss estimated by fire officals at $200,000 to $250,000.

Firefighters from 14 companies spent more than seven hours battling the fire.

"When we got here most of the barn was on fire, so I'm glad people were helping the animals get out," said Tony Kauffman, Gordonville Fire Department chief.

"There was so much hay, it made things hard. We had to haul it away from the barn because it was smoldering," he said.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation, Fire Marshal Brian Herr said this morning.

Herr said he believed all of the animals made it safely out of the fire.

"There was somewhere between 40 to 46 cows, about seven mules and a horse," he said. "At this time, I think the horse had cinged hair, but that was it."

Matthews was still at the scene at 6 o'clock. He was unable to leave because of all the fire trucks, EMF vehicles and water tankers blocking the road.

"I still have to finish my route," Matthews said. "I'm OK, I just smell like smoke and I'm covered in ashe and water. But I haven't finish my route yet."

"I thought I'd help," he said. "The ceiling was on fire, but I thought it would be OK. I was just worried about the animals. Though, it was just unbelieveable how fast that fire spread."

Kauffman, the fire chief, said that in addition to saving the animals, some farming equipment was saved from the fire, as well as the contents of a silo.

Monday afternoon in Manor Township, a two-alarm fire damaged a two-story duplex and displaced a family of six.

Firefighters from Millersville Fire Company and several companies encountered heavy smoke and flames when they arrived at 1067 Williamsburg Road just after 3:30 p.m.

No one was home at the time of the blaze, and there were no injuries fighting the fire.

The home was purchased by the Ishmael Robles family in November.


Staff writer Carla Di Fonzo can be reached at cdifonzo@LNPnews.com or 481-6027.