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12/22/2017 04:23 PMDuring the first hours of morning on Friday, Dec. 22, North Branford firefighters rushed to the scene of a barn fire on Totoket Road. The structure fire was extinguished. Beyond the loss of the structure, several of Jim Ferraro's farm animals perished in the blaze.
As it was the second barn fire in 10 days in town, Fire Chief William Seward quickly took steps to calm community fears he felt were being fanned by social media. Seward stated the fires were not related and had not been intentionally set. Meanwhile, friends of Ferraro quickly mounted an online fundraising effort to raise $10,000 to help Ferraro, a Northford native, replace the barn and animals.
In a press release issued on Dec. 22, Seward noted that the recent structure fires around town have been thoroughly investigated and all causes of origin determined to be accidental, including a Dec. 13 fire that gutted Larry Augur's hay barn on Mill Road.
"In light of today's use of social media, there is always the question of whether or not an increase in the frequency and cause of fires in any community could be criminal in nature," Seward stated. "To the citizens and visitors of North Branford, this is not the case here. Recent events have all resulted in a positive finding that the cause of these fires have been accidental."
By midday on Dec. 22, a GoFundMe fundraising web page, which can be viewed here, was established by Megan Magliulo Ferraro asking for support to assist Ferraro, who lost several pigs and piglets, a cow and calf, and the structure. The losses aren't covered by insurance, according to the post, which reads:
"Jim Ferraro was born and raised in Northford. He has lived and worked on his family farm his entire life. Jimmy has animals that have personalities because he is so loving and compassionate to all of them. Jim breeds pigs and cows for his livelihood, but has some of them as his pets. A few days before Christmas, Jimmy's barn burned down [and] he has no insurance to help him build back after this devastating event. There [were] over 20 pigs, many of them babies and two cows and a calf. This man has helped out so many through the years and now he needs help. He has other animals that used that barn. But no money to rebuild. Please find it in your heart to give whatever you can to help rebuild a barn to house the other animals that need it. It would be wonderful for our town to come together and help one of their own this holiday season. No amount too small."