Farm family members, first responders evacuate 21 pigs from burning barn in Riverhead

First responders and members of the Wells family managed to rescue 19 of the 21 pigs housed in the barn on the Wells farm that was destroyed by fire last night on Sound Avenue.

All 21 pigs were removed from the barn. Two of the animals succumbed last night after they were outside, Laura Wells said this morning. 

“The police and the firefighters were right in there helping us get the pigs out,” Wells said. “The barn was filled with smoke.” 

The pigs were housed in the northern end of the sprawling structure, built by Wells’ father-in-law in the 1960s. The southern end of the barn rapidly became fully engulfed and about 30 chickens housed in that end of the barn perished, Wells said this morning, standing in the yard outside the charred remains of the family’s barn.

“Trying to get the pigs out of there and into another pen down the hill was difficult,” Wells said. The first responders were “amazing,” she said. The pigs were stressed and needed fresh air,  a good source of clean water, and a place where they could calm down, which they had in the pen, Wells said. 

The 19 remaining pigs are resting comfortably this morning, she said. “They’re doing good.”

Wells said she was extremely upset by a Facebook post made last night by Humane Long Island, an animal advocacy and rescue organization based in Riverhead. The post characterized Wells as having a “callous attitude” toward the animals and refusing veterinary care, alleging that she told Humane Long Island representatives “they’re on their way out anyway” because, the group said, “it’s a slaughter farm.” 

The animals’ caretaker on the farm said the pigs needed a place to calm down and rest, Wells said. Pigs stress easily, she said. They were not having trouble breathing and weren’t showing signs of continuing distress. “The last thing they needed at that moment was more stress of being poked and prodded,” she said.

“It’s tearing me up that they said I didn’t care about the animals,” Wells said. “And I’m angry that people are using our tragedy to promote their agenda.”

The response of police and firefighters was “amazing,” Wells said. “We never would have gotten the animals out without them.”

One police officer and two civilians were treated for smoke inhalation at the scene and later taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center for additional treatment, Riverhead police said in the press release last night.  

Wells said the officer had been helping evacuate the pigs from the barn. He and her two granddaughters, who were also evacuating pigs, were taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, she said.

‘It all happened so fast.’

It was a harrowing night at the farm for Wells, whose husband Todd and son Eric were in Maine. They were waiting to get on a ferry this morning, Laura Wells said. She was home with her daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

“It all happened so fast,” Wells said. “I drove across the yard at 4:45 and everything was fine. By 5 o’clock the barn was fully engulfed.”

Riverhead Police patrol officers responding to multiple reports of the fire late yesterday afternoon found that a large portion of the structure was fully engulfed, police said in a press release late last night. 

The large blaze did “extensive damage” to the barn, police said.

The fire required a massive mobilization of police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel in response to the fire, which was in the Riverhead Fire District.  The Riverhead Fire Department had about 75 firefighters respond to the alarm, with mutual aid from Flanders, Wading River, Jamesport, Mattituck, Hampton Bays and Eastport fire departments, which responded to the scene with engines, tankers and ladder trucks to assist with firefighting operations. 

Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded to the scene with mutual aid from Cutchogue Fire Department Ambulance.

Ridge Fire Department stood by at Riverhead’s headquarters and Manorville Fire Department stood by at Jamesport’s headquarters to cover any additional alarms while their departments battled the Sound Avenue fire. Flanders-Northampton Ambulance stood by at RVAC’s headquarters to assist with any calls. 

Police patrol and traffic control units shut down Sound Avenue between Church Lane and West Lane and directed traffic on Main Road to minimize impacts from traffic diverted south from Sound Avenue to Main road. Sound Avenue remained closed for several hours while firefighters fought the blaze.

The Riverhead Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene as well as the Riverhead Detective Division and the Suffolk County Police Arson Section to conduct an investigation into the cause of the fire. 

The fire does not appear to be suspicious in nature at this time, Riverhead Police said in the press release last night.

Due to the amount of water that was used to extinguish the fire, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation responded to the scene to monitor water runoff, police said.