CHICAGO — The Carlson family had just gone to bed at their home in Union when they heard pounding at the door and their dogs barking. So they looked out a window and saw their more-than-100-year-old barn ablaze.
Because of the quick decision of their neighbor to stop on his way to work at the McHenry County Jail, they were able to save themselves and the majority of their animals, except four baby goats, Vicky Carlson said.
On Thanksgiving morning, Carlson said, "I am so thankful, it could have been much worse."
But the time the Carlson family realized what was going on, their neighbor, McHenry County Jail staffer Pete Valenti, had already alerted firefighters to the scene, she said.
At first, Valenti thought the glow from the barn was Christmas lights, but he heard crackling from the wood burning. "I grabbed the keys to the vehicles and moved them while the owners rounded up their animals," Valenti said.
Two calves, three goats, a turkey, chickens and a flock of ducks were saved, but four baby goats named Oreo, S'mores, Hersey and Little Rou died.
The Carlson children — Zoey, 13, Eli, 12, Zander, 10, and Josh, 7 — were upset after losing the baby goats they had become fond of, so friends from Indiana their brought them four kittens to cheer them up, their mother said.
The Carlson family moved into their house about four years ago after being captivated by the more than 100-year-old barn, she said.
"Our plans were to renovate the house and the huge dairy barn. We fixed the barn up enough to have animals, and began renovating the house," Carlson said.
As of noontime Thursday, the barn was still smoldering, and her husband, Damon, estimated the damage would probably be tens of thousands of dollars. Because such historical structures like their barn are hard to insure, the Carlsons will have to fund the repairs, they said.
When the Carlson family purchased their property it was abandoned, so they made plans to restore it. Recently, they wanted to replace the roof of the barn but COVID-19 struck. However, they were able to winterize the barn for the animals.
Now, they will have to figure out where to house their calves.
It hasn't been officially determined yet, but the couple believes the fire started with a heating lamp that was knocked over, possibly by one of the animals.
Friends and relatives have brought over food and neighbors have offered to help clean up.
"I won't be cooking today, but I am glad we were able to salvage some of our belongings and animals," Carlson said. "So many people are suffering with things much worse than a barn fire."
Damon planned to set up a GoFundMe account under The Dauntless Farm Rebuild to help cover some of the costs.
Wednesday night was the first time the Carlsons ever met their neighbor, Valenti. "He helped us tremendously. It was nice of him to stop on his way to work. We would have lost everything if it wasn't for him."
