Fire destroys vacant farmhouse
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| Bill Vidonic,
Times Staff |
09/25/2003 |
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The family
homestead on the Green Valley Farm in Greene Township
was destroyed by fire early Wednesday. Farin Weltner,
left, and her family had used the house as an office
recently, but it was vacant at the time of the
fire.
The Times / Pete Sabella |
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GREENE TWP. - Cherished family heirlooms went up in
smoke early Wednesday, as fire destroyed the Weltner family
homestead at the Green Valley Farm in Greene
Township.
Yet, even as flames and smoke still danced
across pieces of the charred wood of the house, members of the
Weltner family were milking cows and moving on with other
chores at the dairy farm.
"A house can be rebuilt or
cleaned up," said Farin Weltner. "When God closes a door, he
opens a window."
A motorist driving along Gas Valley
Road apparently spotted flames tearing through the house,
which was vacant, just before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, said
Weltner, 26. She and other family members living nearby were
awakened by the screaming sirens of firefighters racing to the
house.
But by the time they got there, emergency
officials said, it was too late. Since the house was separate
from other buildings on the farm, no barns were damaged, and
none of the 180-animal herd of cows and heifers was
injured.
The Weltners and their dairy operation were
featured in a Times story on farm families a month ago, during
the Hookstown Fair, where they displayed cattle. The Green
Valley Dairy processes its own milk and sells it on delivery
routes and in local stores.
The farm started in 1905,
and now encompasses 600 acres over three farms in Pennsylvania
and West Virginia.
Farin Weltner said her grandfather,
Albert, was born and died in the same room of the house that
burned, which was more than 100 years old. Her father, Albert
Jr., was also raised there, and her grandmother, Eleanor, 89,
lived there until about 18 months ago, when she moved to an
assisted-living home in Chester, W.Va.
The family had
been using the house as an office, Farin Weltner said, but had
cleared those materials out recently, thinking they might
remodel the house.
Yet, they didn't move some items,
such as a hope chest and pictures, she said, and now those
items are ash.
"But life goes on," Weltner said. "We're
farmers. We're optimistic."
Almost as a testament to
that vow, one of the only things left standing at the house
was a scorched milk can, sitting near a portion of the house
which looked out over a spectacular view of the farm's green
pasture.
The fire will be investigated by a state fire
marshal, firefighters said, though they think it was
accidental.
Several fire companies, including
Hookstown, Hanover Township, and Chester and New Manchester in
West Virginia, helped battle the blaze, to which Farin Weltner
expressed her gratitude.
"It's just unbelievable the
way they work," Farin Weltner said.
Hookstown Fire
Chief Jerry Torrence said one of his firefighters, Rich Hitt,
was treated for smoke inhalation and released from an area
hospital.
Bill Vidonic can be reached online at
bvidonic@timesonline.com.
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| ©Beaver County Times/Allegheny
Times 2004 |
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