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BY MORNING SENTINEL STAFF 04/08/2008

enlarge Staff photo by Jim Evans

DAIRY DESTROYED: Karen Estrella walks away from the remains of her burned down dairy barn as the last of her herd is loaded onto trucks Monday morning in N. Anson. Without milking equipment, Estrella said they were forced to sell the animals. Twenty-three milking cows escaped the late Sunday night fire, but two calves and a pet dog did not.

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Joe and Karen Estrella's small dairy farm on New Portland Road, just outside the village, is no more.

"We're just trying to get the cows fed," Karen Estrella said Monday morning, after firefighters from four towns had spent six hours at the scene. "We have to sell the cows because we won't be able to milk them. We're trying to load them up now."

Karen Estrella said they also lost their dog in the fire.

The house in which the couple lives was unscathed.

The Estrellas, lured to Maine from Massachusetts by what they perceived as inexpensive land, say they paid cash for the property four years ago.

Fire Chief Alan Walker said he did not know the cause of the fire, although he suspected it was triggered by an electrical problem. Electrical surges had burned through milking compressors in the past, Estrella said.

The top of the barn and the hay bales were fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived at midnight, Walker said. It took three hours to knock down the flames, he said.

"It started in the middle, where they had the equipment," Walker said. "We had it down at around 3 (a.m.), then we used an excavator to dig into the hay."

Crews from Madison, New Portland and Starks assisted at the scene. The property is within the town's hydrant district so water was not a problem, Walker said.

"We did haul some in when it was really going," Walker said.

Estrella said that 23 milking cows made it safely out of the barn. The calves could not escape because they were in a pen, she said.

Estrella said she did not know what the couple's next move might be or how much damage was sustained. She is 52, and her husband is 54.

"It's been a Maine adventure," she said. "In four years since moving here, we've gone through eight milk compressors."

Larry Grard -- 861-9239

lgrard@centralmaine.com

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