HARTFORD, Wis. — Five days after a fire ripped through the family Schelinger farm in Hartford, the charred barn building brings up a lot of memories for Kyle Schelinger.
"It's hard seeing it," he said. "Twenty years I've lived here, seeing the horses here, they're always out here and just having fun. Now, it's just gone, but it's alright. It'll come back."
Kyle lives on the acreage with his parents and sister, who all helped six horses escape the flames. The cats got out, and no one was hurt, even though he said it was hard to get the animals out to safety.
"We ran as fast as we could right into the barn because if we lost the horses, we would've been so upset," he said. "That would've been a huge loss."
Kyle said the fire started out of nowhere late Thursday night, and the flames went up fast because of the hay.
Watch: Community rallies together to help Hartford family after barn fire
"Obviously, it was a little emotional at first," he said. "We're doing better now. The community is insane. The family is awesome, too. Everyone is just pouring in the love. Neighbors and community members donated food, helped house the displaced horses, and started a GoFundMe to help with recovery costs.
"Every horse owner will say you're worst nightmare is a barn fire," Joelle Laufer said. "I think that together we can really help this wonderful family rebuild and try to get some of what they lost."
Laufer helped start the fundraising efforts because she grew up next to the Schelingers, showed horses with them, and wanted to help.
"[My] Parents are all good now, we're fine, we're all good and everyone is kind of calm now," he said. "We're over it. It happened. We've got to move on now and rebuild."
He said the cause is still under investigation. TMJ4 News called the St. Lawrence Fire Department to ask about the fire investigation. At the time this story aired, they had not returned the call.
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