SHOREHAM — A New Year’s Day fire at a Shoreham animal preserve claimed more than a hundred pheasants, though no people were hurt.
Glenn and Judy Symon own and run the ringneck pheasant preserve, known as the Peaceable Hill Preserve, where a fire broke out in two buildings at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
A barn that houses equipment with about 125-150 pheasants inside and a small equipment shed were both leveled. Firefighters from Orwell, Whiting, Bridport and Shoreham responded to the Burgess Road farm, where they worked to stop the flames from spreading to surrounding buildings.
The Symons on Thursday did not have an estimated cost of the damage from the fire. Judy Symon said losing the birds and the barn, which was more than 200 years old, were the greatest losses.
The birds killed in the fire were awaiting a hunt in the barn due to the ice from the recent storm. Although the preserve faced a loss in pheasants, it is still open for hunting.
Glenn Symon called the loss of birds and property “huge.” On Friday he said the family is trying to figure out what insurance coverage they have and while the future of their farm is uncertain they are hoping for the best.
“We’re trying to take it light, because what else can you do?” Glenn Symon said.
The preserve raises about 90,000 ringneck pheasants per year and the land is used for hunters who want to train their dogs and groups of hunters who are looking for a daylong guided hunt. Peaceable Hill provides year-round hunting.