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ZEBULON - There was a fire at the Future Farmers of America (FFA) barn at Pike County High School around 4:45 p.m. on Sunday. The damage to the structure was minor, but two pigs died as a result of the fire with other pigs getting treatment for smoke inhalation and small burns.

Middle School Health Science Teacher Savannah Cain, Elementary School Teacher Amber Dean, and Middle School Nurse Amy Veal were exercising together by walking around the school campus. They saw the fire, called 911, and started getting animals out of the barn until the Pike County Fire Department could respond to the fire.

Pike County Fire Department firefighters were completing extrication training nearby and were able to respond to the scene quickly to extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire was a heat lamp.

The FFA Barn at the High School

Pike County’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) program is part of the Georgia FFA which is the 3rd largest state association with more than 80,000 members. Pike County’s FFA is one of the 391 chapters in our state. Shannon Bartlett, the Animal Agriculture Education teacher at Pike County High School, is one of nearly 600 agricultural education teachers in the state of Georgia.

According to the https://georgiaffa.org/Association website, the FFA award program helps students “develop individual responsibilities, foster teamwork and promote communication while recognizing the value of ethical competition and the value of individual achievement. The role of these events and award programs is to motivate students and encourage leadership, personal growth, citizenship and career development.”

The 42 foot by 84 foot pole barn with a concrete foundation was built in 2015 with local funds.

“The Pike County FFA Alumni Association raised more than $25,000 locally, without the use of any taxpayer funds, to get that barn constructed,” said State Representative Beth Camp. “So many members of our community gave small and large donations to make that happen.”

Included in the pictures above are students picking out their $450+ pigs from a breeder out of North Carolina. These students had their first show this weekend with their pigs.

Pike County’s FFA students have earned many awards over the years including a 1st show overall, 3rd show overall, 5th show overall, and 9th show overall in the Mid-GA Preview this weekend. (See group photo above.)

Pike County’s FFA Chapter

Shannon Bartlett, the Animal Agriculture Education teacher at Pike County High School, advised Pike County Times that a total nine pigs were housed at the FFA Barn along with three goats and a baby calf.

Three pigs were taken to Thompson Veterinary Services (TVS) in Barnesville to be checked out for smoke inhalation and small burns from the fire. All pigs have been rehoused temporarily with some living on trailers as stalls.

Walker Davis is pictured above with his black and white pig named "Bill." Walker has been showing pigs for four years, and Bill is his current show pig. Bill has always lived at the FFA barn and needed veterinary care for burns he received from the fire. He is being treated with medications and a medicated cream for his burns.

Brandi Baade spoke at the past Board of Commissioners meeting and gave some of the following facts and statistics to commissioners with regard to upcoming proposed changes in ordinances.

Our local FFA chapter ranked 10th in the nation in 2018 and has been awarded a multitude of awards on state level as well. FFA gives students supervised agricultural experience projects such as the pigs, goats, and calf that can be housed at the FFA Alumni Barn.

The barn had a maximum housing capacity of 12 hogs before the fire. The 2023-2024 show team has a total of 29 hogs with the rest of the hogs being cared for off site by show team members.

Brandi’s son shows market hogs as a pre-club member of the FFA. Her son is 4 years old, and his 2 ½ year old brother has been looking forward to joining him on the team next year.

Having a place for students to learn to care for show animals whether at home or in the FFA Alumni Barn is an important part of their growth and success through agricultural education in our county and school system.

Closing

Pike County Times asked if the public could help and what donations could be used for. Shannon advised that the school does have insurance on the barn, but they don’t know yet whether this will be a total loss from the fire or if repairs will be done.

“Repairs will involve the structure of the building, interior walls, new roof, electrical, and plumbing,” she said.

Shannon went on, “Students did lose equipment and the pigs we lost will need to be replaced. Thankfully we have contacts to find them hogs.”

Donations can be delivered to the front office of the Pike County High School by advising staff that donors are bringing a Barn Donation to Shannon Bartlett.

Checks should be made out to “Pike County Board of Education” with “Barn Donations” written on the memo line.

Pike County High School is located at 331 Pirate Drive, Zebulon, GA 30295

All of these are submitted photos.

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