A barn at Sepe Farm, the Toddy Hill Road property owned for decades by Carol and Peter Sepe, was destroyed by fire Saturday afternoon.

The couple’s home and some vehicles were also damaged, but both Sepes and their 30 sheep were all unharmed.

Deputy Fire Marshal Steve Murphy on Monday said the cause of the fire was undetermined.

“I can say we’re pretty sure it started on the first floor, in the middle of the barn, where the freezer and refrigerator were, but other than that I can’t saw how or why it started,” he added.

All five of Newtown’s companies were dispatched at 4:19 pm June 21 to the farm, which is in Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company’s district. A neighbor had called in the fire, Mr Sepe told The Newtown Bee on Monday.

“I looked out and saw it and was ready to call 911, but he had already done that,” Sepe said. He and the neighbor checked to make sure the sheep were out, and then started moving vehicles.

“We moved a truck and trailer out of the way and then we moved a lawn mower as far as we could out of the way, then just sort of checked in the barn but there was too much smoke, too much flame to take anything out,” Sepe said June 23.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue First Assistant Chief Andy Ryan was the first firefighter to arrive at the property. Ryan found the fire “well involved” when he pulled into the property, he said, “with heavy smoke” also pouring out of the building. Ryan was the officer in charge of the scene.

Approximately 40 firefighters responded to the farm, according to Ryan. Water was shuttled in via tankers from locations on Quarry Ridge and Turnberry Lane, both to the north of the farm. Approximately 55,000 gallons of water was used to put out the fire.

In addition to members representing all five local fire companies — Botsford, Dodgingtown, Hawleyville and Newtown Hook & Ladder — firefighters from Southbury, Stevenson and Monroe also responded to Saturday's fire. Two County Coordinators and two Newtown fire marshals also responded to the structure fire.

Firefighters were able to quickly start dousing the fire before doing extensive overhaul. Ryan called for a Town of Newtown excavator, which further pulled apart the building and hay inside the building, continuing the overhaul efforts.

There were no injuries reported. Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps and a paramedic were also dispatched to the scene, per structure fire protocol. Saturday’s high temperatures and humidity created a heat exhaustion concern in addition to the potential for injuries that can occur at any fire scene.

Toddy Hill Road was fully closed between its intersections with Still Hill and Longview roads while the fire scene was active.

Bethel provided coverage for Dodgingtown’s fire station. Brookfield sent coverage to Hook & Ladder’s station. Once they finished on Toddy Hill Road, Southbury’s firefighters then went to Sandy Hook’s main station to provide coverage of the district from that location. Oxford also sent coverage to Sandy Hook’s main station.

The final firefighters cleared and Toddy Hill Road reopened at 7:40 pm Saturday. The barn had been fully knocked down and checked for any stubborn hotspots.

A horse trailer attached to a pickup truck, a nearby Prius, and the northfacing side of the home all showed significant damage from the fire. Sections of light blue siding had melted and started dripping down the side of the 2,500-square-foot Colonial. One large panel had dropped to the ground.

The license plate surround the Prius had melted, then formed into a droopy square on the vehicle’s rear hatch, which was also damaged by the heat. The driver's side taillights, side panel and bumper were also damaged.

The entire front of a Cub Cadet riding mower was also heavily damaged by the heat, its cover melted down and at least one tire flat.

The farm’s lambs were again grazing in a lower field, seemingly oblivious to the chaos that had been happening nearby a short time earlier. Family members and friends of the Sepes began arriving at the farm while firefighting efforts were still underway, alerted to the fire and offering to help any way they could. Among those arriving quickly were the couple's daughter and son-in-law and a fellow Newtown farmer.

Neighbors also gathered along Toddy Hill Road, some on opposite corner at Pilgrim Lane, watching the scene unfold. One couple who had planned to have dinner with the Sepes at their home instead pivoted those plans, running out for take-out food that was then taken back to the farm.

On Monday, Peter Sepe said he and his wife were still “processing the order of things. We’re doing inventory of what was in the barn, waiting for another call from the insurance company, and having the trailer repaired.”

Sepe said there were a few “little flareups” on Sunday, “but nothing we couldn’t handle ourselves.”

The heat from Saturday’s flames was so intense, he said, the horse trailer was damaged just by the effort of moving it away from the barn. The two tires on the driver’s side of the trailer were also “flattened from the heat,” he said.

He and his wife were grateful, he said, for everything that had already been done to help them.

“We’ve had a tremendous outpouring of assistance from various farmers around the county,” he said. Although the Sepes were able to continue living in their house, the sheep had been moved to temporary homes. Nine ewes and babies were at their daughter’s farm in Granby, Sepe said. The others were all at Little Things Farm in Newtown.

Sepe said despite the stress of their situation, he and Carol had a great appreciation for all the first responders who were at their property less than 48 hours earlier.

“Oh my God it was awesome,” he said. “We cannot thank them enough.”

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Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.