HARMONY — A 10-day-old piglet named Miracle was taking a nap on a warm blanket in the Chadbourne family’s living room Monday, just one week after a barn fire killed other animals there.

Though she squealed loudly when picked up, the tiny black and brown piglet made no noise as the family’s three dogs poked their noses at her through the pen she was lying in or tried to lap up some of the milk that had been set out for her.

Meanwhile, friends of the Chadbournes were working on building Miracle and the other surviving farm animals at Rough Cut Acres a temporary home for the winter.

It’s been one week since a fire destroyed the barn at the farm, killing several chickens, goats and pigs.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal has said that there was too much damage to determine a cause, but Jeff and Mel Chadbourne, who own the property, said Monday that they think it might have been caused by a skunk or another animal that chewed electrical wires in the barn.

The skunk’s body was found in the barn debris near where the Fire Marshal’s Office thinks the blaze might have started.

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“It was devastating,” said Mel Chadbourne, who discovered the fire as she was getting the couple’s three teenage children out the door for school on Oct. 19. She said her daughter found the piglet running around outside the fire and they have no idea why she was the only pig to escape.

They have since named her Miracle.

In addition to the loss of the barn and other animals, the family lost two tractors, a pickup truck and haying equipment, much of which will not be covered by insurance. The fire also damaged the back side of their house.

The community however, has raised more than $8,000 to help cover the losses through a GoFundMe campaign started by one of Jeff Chadbourne’s co-workers. They said the money probably will help fund the purchase of a new tractor.

“I was very surprised,” said Mel Chadbourne, 59, who works as a school nurse at Harmony Elementary School and in Bingham-based School Administrative District 13. “It’s humbling how much people have helped.”

On Monday friends of the family had gathered at the farm to help build a small temporary shelter for the cows and other livestock, which includes two donkeys and a llama named Sebastian, that had survived the fire.

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“I think everyone in Harmony knows the Chadbournes,” said Audrey Bemis, a neighbor who was helping build the new structure with her husband, Raymond. “My first reaction when I heard about the fire was, ‘What can I do to help?’ I think that has been a lot of people’s reactions around town.”

Both Mel and Jeff Chadbourne are volunteers with the Harmony Fire Department and work with the town’s ambulance service. They’re also two of the main organizers behind the Harmony Free Fair, an annual summertime fair that charges no admission and is run by the Harmony Patriarchs Club, of which Jeff Chadbourne is president.

“They’re a local family and local farmers and they do a lot of stuff for the town,” said another friend, Rick Clowry. “They never need any help. They’re always the ones giving it, but now there is something they need.”

The temporary shelter, which the group plans to have finished by the end of the week, will protect the animals through the winter, after which the family plans to build a bigger barn.

The family also plans to keep Miracle — a cross between a Mulefoot heritage breed hog and Chester White — around as a breeding pig.

“She’ll have a long life here,” Jeff Chadbourne said.


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