Ten months ago was April 12 and as I write this, in one minute (6:54 p.m.), it will be the exact time we got the call to look out our window.
This is what we saw.
Never could I have imagined how our lives would change in the next few minutes and hours. Everything we had worked for, our feed store business, the newly opened Quarterfield Market (one week) and farm shop all burned to the ground along with a storage room of our and the Hostetters personal stuff, memorbilia and irreplaceable family treasures. Our life was now devided in two distinct seasons; before the fire and after the fire.
Within 15 minutes it was totally engulfed.
Today, February 12, our farmer’s market opened in the newly built barn. It wasn’t planned this way and there was a push all week by everyone involoved to make this happen. Orignially we were told the market would be done by Christmas, then New Years, then the end of January but dealing with contractor’s schedule, permits, subs and weather it was the way it turned out.
Tonight we realized what a peaceful, stress-free day it had been. We had stressed and worked so hard for ten months leading up to this day. And then it happened. There were no more deadlines to be pushed back, no more construction decisions, no more what ifs and how longs. We actually received our occupancy permission yesterday at 2 p.m. We were pushing and stressing down to the wire. The market opened this morning at 9 a.m. and all day there was a steady stream of vendors and happy shoppers. Jill and Lauren were very excited and pleased with how the day went. It was fun. It was relaxing. It was stress-free. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining.
Ten months to the day. The reward has been worth the labor. Quarterfield Market was the last of our rebuild and it feels like we are moving forward. We lost so much but received so much more. By the way, it is a terrible way to get new buildings!!! We give God thanks and praise for how he has provided during a dark season of our life. We thank each who reached out with caring arms and gave us the encouragement to keep going. Many supported us with gifts of money. It was invaluable. The raw wound has healed and we are so happy to be at ten months to the day on this side of the tragedy.
It is exciting to be able to say the rebuilding is in progress. We are rising from the ashes and new things are happening. The barren landscape is starting to change.
I love sitting in my store office and watching the progress out of my window. Benson Construction from Jetersville is our contractor. They are one efficient team and the work they can accompolish in a day is amazing. The farmer’s market pavilion was built in three days.
The Pavilion was started on June 9, finished on June 11 and open for busines June 12.
The pavilion (stage 1 of the building process) was built the beginning of June. This is an important first step in the larger scope of things. After the fire, we put up two large tents to quickly get the market up and running. Later this summer the market will have a new permanent building (stage 3 of the building process) but for the short-term the pavilion is better and safer than the tents. While we are in the temporary stage, the market is open Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 12 noon. When the permanent building is built, the market will be open Monday-Saturday and the pavilion will be available for pop-up or temporary vendors on Saturdays.
Currently the farm shop (stage 2) is being built. The shop is an intregral part of our farming operation for tools, maintanence, repairs and a place to work on our equipment. A farmer has to have a shop! Fortunately, when the shop burned, we did not lose our tools as the fire was up in the ceiling. We had a metal drop ceiling and the fire got between it and the metal roof. The building and round baler, that was in the back of the shop, were destroyed. They had just finished doing $3,000 worth of spring maintanence on the baler the afternoon before the fire, getting it ready for the hay season. The baler was insured, but somehow the building was not on the insurance policy.
Burned up baler.
Life has settled into a comfortable routine, we are no longer functioning in stress or emergency mode. Plans are falling into place, change is happening and life is moving on. The incredible financial, emotional and physical support from our friends, family, church and community has been our lifeline. Through it all God has been faithful and we are so grateful. We are seeing so much good come from such devastating loss.
Recently our Sunday School lesson focused on the story of David and Goliath. The giant loomed menancingly large before the Israelite army and the soldiers were in panic mode. Suddenly David shows up. He was just a lad bringing food from home for his brothers and a gift of cheese for the commander of the army. After David evaluated the situation, he basically said, my God is bigger than that giant! I have rescued a lamb from a lion’s mouth and killed a lion and bear with my hands. That giant has defied God, and God will bring him down. David did not have a sword, gun or tomahawk missile, but he had the well-used tool of his trade-a sling shot. He carefully collected five small stones from a stream as he crossed the valley betwen the two armies to meet the giant. He used what he had; a smooth stone and a prayer. That stone precisely aimed sank into the giant’s forehead and he crumbled at David’s feet.
What are you facing in your life? Can you trust God to help you overcome? What tools of the trade do you have in your hand? Can you use the opportunity to show the goodness of God and his divine intervention? For forty days the whole Israelite army, including the king, had listened to the threats and taunts of this haughy giant of a man as he stood on the mountain every morning yelling his mocking words across the valley. They could not see past the giant and trembled with fear. They almost missed what God wanted to do, it took a lad to show them. Our challenge is to allow God to help us see past the giants in our life. To fight them in our own strength is overwhelming, but with God, all things are possible.
I was recently reminded of the verse in Deuteronomy 33:27 that has ministered to me often through the years, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you…” You have literally been His arms lifting us up. We are trusting Him for our future. God is faithful.
Never could we have imagined such a devastating fire that almost completely destroyed our business and farm shop. Here is our story.
Saturday evening, April 12, Gene and I were in our comfy spots in the living room, me resting in the lazy boy chair catching up on social media and Gene stretched out on the sofa watching TV. Our peaceful quiet evening was shattered at 6:55 when my cell phone rang. It was Luanne from up at the horse stables. “Are you burning something down there”? I responded, “No” and she said, “You better look out your window.”
The sight from my kitchen window stunned me. I yelled to Gene, “The store is on fire.” He leaped off the sofa, shoved on his shoes and raced to the store on the golf car while I dialed 911. Then I took my first picture.
6:56 p.m.
Mike, Luanne’s husband, was there in an instant. He and Gene tried to enter the store but the smoke was too thick.
4 minutes later…7 pm. The retail store was totally engulfed. Black smoke was pouring from the old dariy stanchion barn which we used to warehouse feed.7 minutes later…7:03 p.m. They quickly ran out of water. Ironically the county “dry hydrants” were dry and they had to pull from a nearby pond in Maple Cottage.
The fire trucks started to arrive and water sprayed on the fire. Heavy smoke was also coming from the back left of the stanchion barn where our main warehouse of feed was located.
7:06 p.m……10 minutes. The firemen attended to break into the stanchion barn door.
7:07 p.m….. 11 minutes7:09 p.m…… 12 minutes. The stanchion barn was fully engulfed.7:12 p.m…. 15 minutes. The whole structure was a totaly engulfed inferno. There was no saving the stucture-just trying to control the spread.
It is a terrible thing to sit in a lawn chair in your backyard and watch your business, your livelihood, burn to the ground and there is nothing you can do. By this time there were lots of fire and tanker trucks. 55,000 gallons of water were dumped on the fire. I am not sure how many counties responded to the call but I know we saw Amelia, Goochland, and Huguenot. Someone said they were about 15 fire trucks here.
We lost a total of six buildings, five of which were attached to our store complex and the farm shop which was to the right.
7:27 p.m…. 31 minutes.
I asked about the towering, black smoke billowing from the structure. I commented to the fire chief I couldn’t figure out what was burning as there were no tires or anything rubber that I could think of. He said it was the feed. Feed have oils in it and even though it is vegetable based, it burns black. I found that very interesting.
7:36 p.m.
Family and neighbors gathered to watch and grieve with us. There were literally the arms of Jesus surrounding us and holding us up. We knew they cared and it was good to have people to help process what was happening. Someone said that cars were parked all they way out the driveway to the road.
Later we were told that the smoke was seen in Amelia and Cumberland. Someone traveling on 45 from Farmville saw the smoke. Bits of insulation floated to a neighbor’s field a mile or more away.
The sheriffs department flew a drone overhead the entire time shining a light for the firemen and watching for spreading flames and hot spots. They told us that there were four or five other drones of neighbors taking a look but they stayed their distance and did not interfere.
7:41 p.m.7:46 p.m…. 1 hour.
The really bright yellow over the top of the firetruck are the four propane tanks that were at the back of the store. They did not explode but vented as they were suppose to do fueling a very hot fire that spread to our personal storage room and farm shop. Our daughter and her husband (Jill and Obe) are in the process of moving to Powhatan and had a significant amount of things already moved and in the storage room by the shop. To make room in our house, I had stored some of my personal things also; pictures, family treasures, quilts made by mother and my grandmother, blankets, books, childhood toys and treasures, floor shampooer, grill, etc.7:47 p.m. The storage room and shop are now engulfed.
Our round baler was in the shop getting it ready for the hay season. They finished at 4:30. The smoke was too intense to get it out. We had an appliance man add freon to a fridge in the store earlier in the afternoon and he asked me to check it an hour or so later to make sure it was working properly. I checked it at 4:30 also. Nothing seemed amiss and the fridge was working properly.
8:50 p.m.8:55 p.m. Two hours….all that was left was an arid smelling, smoking and burning shell of a stucture and rubble. Amazingly the feeders on the front dock of the store survived!
We started Hertzler Farm and Feed in October 1983. It had survived the test of time for 42 years. Quarterfield Markets, the pride and vision of Jill and our granddaughter Lauren, which had been open one week was gone. On launch day the Saturday before we had over 1000 here. Now all that was left of our business was hay, straw, fertilizer, lime and shavings as they were in another warehouse and containers.
Finally at 1 a.m in the morning we gathered in the living room of the house to decompress and process as a family. At 2 a.m. we all headed off to bed, exhausted, emotionally drained, sad, and weary. There were so many questions and so few answers. A firetruck stayed and kept watch all night for flare ups and hot spots. All I could say as I crawled into bed was….God I trust you. We are all safe, it could have been much worse. Give us peace, wisdom and your guidance for the future.
I am a country gal who enjoys writing, gardening, baking and my family. My husband and I own a retail feed store and it keeps us active and busy. We love living in the country and on our beef farm. We retail natural, Angus, dry-aged beef in our store and a local "natural" store.
My writings, called "From A Grandma's Perspective" are mostly inspired from our five delightful grandchildren. These along with "Life Perspective" can read on our web page at www.hffinc.com under the "Who We Are" tab.
By the way, I love hearing from people who read my blog!!!
