By Aaron McKrell

Eagle Staff Writer

VENANGO TWP — One person was seriously injured in a barn fire at Fantasy Whitetails deer farm at 8:40 a.m. Saturday.

Rocco Sloboda, who owns the farm and lives in a two-story house just yards from the barn, said his wife Darlene alerted him of the fire.

He only had a T-shirt and shorts on when he ran outside. His son, Aaron, was already in the barn trying to salvage farming equipment.

In his attempts to salvage the equipment, Aaron Sloboda, 41, suffered severe smoke inhalation. Rocco Sloboda said the initial plan was to life-flight his son to a Pittsburgh hospital, but that the weather did not permit for that.

He was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital by Emlenton Ambulance.

“He was having a hard time breathing,” Rocco Sloboda said. “I know he had to have gotten burnt, because I got burnt.”

He said he sustained minor burns to his arm, but had not yet sought treatment for them.

In addition to the farm equipment, there also were deer in fenced-in overhangs connected to the barn.

“It went into the (barn) and it looked to me like the fire was on the back wall,” Rocco Sloboda said. “I had two little buck fawns and a doe fawn in the back stall, and I figured they were probably dead.”

However, he and his son saved the deer by cutting a hole in the fence, which allowed them to escape the blaze. Rocco Sloboda said they seemed to be OK.

Darlene Sloboda had called 911, and Rocco Sloboda initially went to turn on and grab his garden hose to try to fight the fire until firefighters arrived. However, the fire became too large too quickly.

“Everything happened so fast,” Rocco Sloboda said.

Several fire departments arrived on scene, and most of the fire was extinguished within 12 to 15 minutes.

“It was totally involved,” said Joe Fitzgerald, Marion Township fire chief. “Our main concern when we got here, for my department, was the house.”

A “tremendous amount of heat,” Fitzgerald said, caused the siding of the Slobodas’ house to start to smolder. To prevent the problem from worsening, one Marion Township crew protected the structure while another crew took care of the end of the barn nearest to the house.

A North Washington Fire Department crew dowsed the other side of the barn.

Volunteer departments from Bruin, Eau Claire, Emlenton, Petrolia and West Sunbury also responded. Emlenton Ambulance Services and Superior Ambulance Service also were on scene.

“Everybody worked together good,” Fitzgerald said. “I appreciate everybody’s help.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Butler State Police fire marshal.

The barn was destroyed, as well as most of the equipment inside it, include corn planters, tools, plows, and a restored 1971 Oldsmobile. The cost of the damage is not yet known.

Some of the equipment was salvaged, including a tractor.

Rocco Sloboda is more worried about his son.

“I’m just hoping he’s OK,” he said. “This (equipment) can be replaced.”