FARMINGTON –  A horse, boarding at Knowlton Corner Farm, and a pair of cats were lost in an early morning stable fire at the farm Thursday.

When firefighters arrived at 341 Knowlton Corner Road about 4 a.m. the stable was fully involved, Clyde Ross, deputy chief of Farmington Fire and Rescue said.

The cause of the fire remains unknown but is under investigation by the Maine Fire Marshal’s office.

As of mid-day Thursday Farmington and Wilton firefighters were working to put out any still smouldering sections of the stable and hay.

About 30 horses were outside as the fire started and survived, Jim Pierce, the nephew of owners Bob Govoni and Arlene Messelli, said at the scene. 

“They’re really upset about the horse,” Pierce added.

The couple board and train horses with an inside training ring in the large stable on the corner of Knowlton Corner and Seamon Road.

Knowlton Corner Farm was previously described by Messelli as a diversified 60-acre, family-run farm featuring horse lessons and boarding, a horse camp, therapeutic riding for the disabled, gardens and a bakery.

The family had just completed a new bakery on the side of the stable and had the licensing ready to open the bakery on Wednesday, Pierce said.

The farm owners were alerted to the blaze by people who knocked on the windows to their house when they were passing by and noticed the fire, Pierce said. 

The owners able to move their personal vehicles but lost a trailer, jeep, dump truck. Heat from the blaze also melted the siding on the farm house.

Wind and extreme cold hampered fire fighting efforts, Farmington Fire Chief Terry Bell said.  Water was also not readily available. Over 3,000 feet of large hose was set up to bring water about three-quarters of a mile on the Seamon Road. Water was also transported from Chesterville, he said.

Mutual aid from area fire departments included Wilton, Chesterville, Industry, Strong,  Temple, New Sharon, East Dixfield and New Vineyard, Ross said.

NorthStar ambulance stood by and members of the Franklin County Emergency Response Team brought coffee and food to the firefighters.

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