Owner Mike Landgraf was able to evacuate seven cows and large farm equipment from his barn in Donegal Township after it caught fire on Thursday.

DONEGAL TWP — The cows are safe, but the barn is gone.

Multiple fire departments were called at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday to a barn fire at 156 Landgraf Road.

“When we arrived, portions of the roof were gone, and parts of the side were falling,” said Chicora Assistant Fire Chief Rick Craig.

Craig said the barn's owner, Mike Landgraf, was able to evacuate the seven cows and large farm equipment that were inside the barn.

Craig said firefighters worked to pull out the hay that had caught fire while simultaneously sifting and wetting the material.

“The hay bales like to keep burning,” he said. “They just keep reigniting.”

Firefighters worked on the scene until about 7:45 p.m. with some assistance from neighbors who used equipment to help clear the hay as it was removed from the barn.

Firefighters used a fire hydrant from Chicora to collect water for the pumpers, which used between 8,000 and 11,000 gallons of water.

Craig said he could not immediately determine the cause of the fire, but he did not believe the fire marshal would be called.

He said the barn was a total loss.

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Landgraf and his wife, Patty, own the barn, which is just downhill from a second barn and across the street from their farmhouse.

“I'm just sick to my stomach,” Patty Landgraf said. “It's amazing how fast things happen.”

Mike Landgraf said he had mowed the lawn and put the mower back into the barn earlier that afternoon.

He said he left to do another chore, when he smelled something burning.

He returned to the barn to find the beginning of a fire, and when a hose didn't put it out, he ran into the barn to save his animals and equipment.

Mike Landgraf said the hay caught fire quickly.

“It was unbelievable how fast it went,” Mike Landgraf said.

Mike Landgraf said he was thankful to the firefighters who put the fire out, and he was thankful to his many friends who either assisted firefighters alongside him or stopped by to offer support.

“I've got friends like you can't begin to believe,” he said. “They're all good to me.”

As Mike Landgraf looked at the smoking barn, he asked himself aloud what he will do when winter comes in a couple of months.

“You'll find a way,” said Tom Lynch, a longtime friend of the Landgrafs. “You always do.”