Every day brings more loss at Brooks Farms after a barn fire destroyed years of collected equipment.

On Dec. 4 flames broke out in a century barn on the property, which was quickly engulfed.

“The kids had been in the barn a half-hour earlier and the staff were feeding the chickens,” said Kelly Brooks, who owns the farm with her husband, Paul.

“Paul was getting the kids dinner and we lost power in the house. He looked outside and could smell fire, and saw smoke coming from the barn. He ran for fire extinguishers, and so did several members of our staff, but by the time they got there it was way too big. That’s the thing with old barns, they’re so dry they just go up like tinder.”

Brooks said they are still trying to calculate the losses, since the barn was mainly used for storage, and was packed with years of signage and equipment used at the popular farm market, including a Jeep, four-wheelers, all the operation’s signage, fruit bins, seasonal supplies and decorations and much more.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, you look at it and there’s just nothing left,” said Brooks, noting one of the most heartbreaking losses was the popular pumpkin cannons, which Paul had handmade and then perfected year after year to use during the farm’s annual fall festival.

“Everything else we can just reorder but these were 14 years of a labour of love, each year he would build them bigger and better, and we lost all five,” she continued. “We’re trying to just take it step by step and go through everything season by season.”

Another big loss the farm’s two jumping pillows for its popular playland, which suffered some damage since the wind was blowing the flames toward it.

“The wind was blowing toward the playland so we lost that stuff, but it was a bit of a blessing in disguise because if it had been blowing the other way we could have lost the house,” Brooks said.

“It’s really a nightmare. The only positive thing is that no one was harmed.”

An investigation into the fire is ongoing, but so far the Brooks family has no indication what may have caused the fire. Brooks said they will likely rebuild eventually, as they will need somewhere to store equipment once it is replaced, but there are no concrete plans so far.

“We can’t even think that far ahead right now,” she said, noting the outpouring of support from the community has been a boon to the family during this difficult time.

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“We’re trying to think positive and say, ‘here’s an opportunity to rebuild,’ but it’s been hard,” she said. “The outpouring of support has been great, I haven’t even gotten to all the messages we’ve received, but I know they’re there, and that helps.”

The farm market is currently open as normal, with regularly scheduled Breakfast with Santa events continuing on weekends through Sunday.