Nearly 30 animals die in barn fire on Parade Road

LACONIA — Someone pounded on Jill Miller’s door about two hours before sunrise on Tuesday to say her barn was on fire. Together they ran out to try to save as many animals as they could. Their efforts were not in time for four goats, nine piglets and at least 15 chickens that died in the fire.

A press release from the Laconia Fire Department reported receiving the first call about the fire at 4:56 a.m. on Dec. 19. Because the location — 3160 Parade Road — was so close to the Meredith town line, both departments responded to the scene. Gilford and Belmont crews also assisted.

The fire, which broke out in a 600-square-foot barn, was challenging for the firefighters. There were several small outbuildings near the barn, and heavy rains the previous day created knee-deep mud. No firefighters or other humans were injured.

The fire department considers the likely ignition source to be a lamp in the barn, in place to keep newborn piglets warm.

“Owners must be diligent and routinely check heat lamps when they are used,” said Laconia Firefighter Mark Iannazzi. “It only takes one animal to bump the lamp or chew wiring to cause an issue.”

Miller said she agrees the heat lamp is likely to blame, though she noted she has used it for several previous farrows of piglets.

At midday Tuesday, several hours after the fire, Miller was coming to terms with her loss, which included nearly 30 animals, as well as all of her equine medications, feed, fencing materials, horse blankets and draft horse tack. She valued the total in the tens of thousands of dollars. “Everything’s gone,” she said.

Several animals survived, including three sows due to give birth this winter, and Miller is now scrambling to find shelter for the remaining animals, a list which includes horses, goats, ducks, one goose and chickens.

“I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me,” Miller said, as a small group of friends, neighbors and relatives helped to remove the debris: Cinders, smoking piles of grain, scorched saddles, animal carcasses. “I’m still digesting this.”

Miller noted that she has a sawmill on site.

“Maybe instead of celebrating Christmas, I might just mill wood.”

Miller moved to the Parade Road property about eight years ago, part of what she called a “mid-life crisis.” Her original intent was to start a campground, but the objection of neighbors forced her to pivot. Instead, she works full time for a tree service company.

Shortly after she let go of her plans to develop the property, she heard about a couple of Clydesdales that needed a new home. Since then, she’s taken in a menagerie of unwanted creatures, finding a home for each of them.

“I hate seeing animals just get thrown away,” she said. She’s taken in a cow that outgrew a petting farm, donkeys, chickens that a family decided they couldn’t care for, and even a quartet of miniature horses.

“I do it because I love it. I’ve never been broker, but I’ve never been happier,” Miller said, “Except on days like this.”

Miller, said one neighbor who didn’t give her name, is one of the hardest-working people she has ever seen. When she’s not working at her day job, she hays fields, splits and sells cordwood, collects and sells eggs, breeds and sells pigs and tends to her rescue farm. The neighbor said Miller can often be seen at night, using a headlamp, laboring on her property after most have retired for the day.

Neighbors set up a crowdsourcing campaign on Tuesday morning before Miller implored them to take it down.

While she had plenty to grieve on Tuesday, she also saw people who showed up to help her. During the day, she had people helping to make sense of the fire’s aftermath. The fire crews were there to put out the fire, and there was the stranger who pulled over and helped her to save those animals they could. The ducks and goose were so frightened they attempted to run back into their safe place — the barn — even after Miller was throwing them out of the burning structure. The passerby who banged on her door was still there, collecting the birds and tossing them over the fence, so they could be spared from the blaze. Once they had saved all that could be saved, he was gone.

“Whoever it was who pounded on my door, and came out here and helped me, I can’t thank him enough,” Miller said.