Fire destroys barn in Hardin Co.; owner suspects arson

HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Just after midnight, emergency crews raced early Tuesday morning to a scene of thick, black smoke at a farm in the 2000 block of Fox Hollow Loop in Savannah. They found a barn on fire with farm equipment and over 200 bales of hay inside.

“I’ve been targeted, and ranchers around here need to be worried about it,” cattle rancher Randy Ferrara said.

Investigators and longtime rancher Ferrara searched Tuesday for what or who caused the barn to go up in flames.

“There’s no question this is arson,” Ferrara said. “There has been nobody near my barn for the last five days. We haven’t fed because of all the grass around here. To do this to animals is pretty sad.”

Ferrara raises over 60 registered black Angus cows and can’t understand why anyone would do this.

“It’s pretty sad. It’s pretty sad there’s somebody out there that can target someone else,” Ferrara said. “My house is right there, 300 feet away. What’s next? My house?”

Another reason investigators are pointing to arson is the fact the barn sits back off of the main road.

“They had to walk almost a mile to walk on this property and light this fire,” Ferrara said.

The owner says he is offering a reward of $5,000 for any information leading to an arrest and conviction for whoever did this to his property.

Ferrara has a message for whoever is behind this: “Why don’t you come after me? Not my animals.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office at 731-925-3377.