Ridgeway milking parlor badly damaged in morning fire
Photos by Tom Rivers
RIDGEWAY – A fire this morning badly damaged the milking parlor at a dairy farm owned by Marcus Miller on Fruit Avenue. Miller is pictured in the top photo, with back to camera. Firefighters are working to ventilate the parlor.
Miller milks 45 cows at the site. He said none of the cows were hurt in the fire. He said he will milk the cows at a neighbor’s parlor in the immediate future.
Fire investigators haven’t determined a cause for the fire, but they suspect a heat lamp, the only source of heat in the milking parlor, is a likely cause.
Miller moved to Ridgeway in 2012. Cornell Cooperative Extension has featured Miller’s farm as an example for pastured grazing.
Firefighters from the western battalion – Ridgeway, Medina, Shelby and Lyndonville – were on scene this morning, with additional mutual aid from Middleport. The dispatch call went out at 7:46 a.m.
It is a bitterly cold morning with temperatures at 14 degrees.
Miller is a member of the Amish community in western Orleans and eastern Niagara counties.
