MILL CREEK, Ind. – Nine farm animals a family kept for use in 4-H perished in a La Porte County barn fire but more could have died if not for police helping with the evacuation.

Larry Tuholski, one of the owners of the family farm along County Road 100 South in Mill Creek, said five pigs and four goats were lost in the May 4 blaze.

Three sheep in a pen beside the burning barns would have perished if not for the efforts of Deputy Dylan Hisick with the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office.

Hisick ventured in and carried them a safe enough distance from the flames.

“He just picked them up and lifted them up over the fence,” Tuholski  said.

Tuholski said the sheep are recovering from smoke inhalation and their wool being scorched from the heat.

Hisick has been a member of the sheriff’s office for nearly 18 months.

“We are proud of the immediate action by Deputy Hisick and his commitment to serving others, especially in this case for the Tuholski family,” said La Porte County Police Capt. Derek Allen.

More than 10 cats also perished in the fire.

Tuholski said one of the barns now used for storage was a milking parlor until the family decided to get out of the dairy business in 2000. The family now raises strictly corn, soybeans and popcorn on more than 5,000 acres while a neighbor keeps about 350 head of steer on the spread in another building not impacted by the fire.

Tuholski said the steers were never in danger because they are kept in another facility roughly 150 feet away from the fire. The other destroyed barn that once contained young dairy cows was like a workshop area used also for storage.

Tuholski said his son, Joe, put some parts back up for storage and left for his nearby home, then a short time later noticed smoke rising in the air.

He and other family members started getting as many things out of the barns as they could, including a few pick-up trucks and tractors.

A number of sheep were also spared from the flames, including several placed over a fence for safe keeping by Hisick.

A lot of equipment, including a small tractor attached to a tiller and sprayers, were not able to be saved from the rapidly spreading flames.

“When the fire got in that ceiling area, it took off like gangbusters,” Tuholski said.

His niece, Rebecca Tuholski, was planning to show at least some of the deceased animals during the La Porte County Fair in July in what is her 10th and final year in the 4-H program.

Pleasant Township Fire Chief Kevin Bluhm said flames were shooting from the roof in one of the buildings and spreading to the other structure when firefighters first pulled up.

They attacked the fire by first successfully driving the flames away from an area containing herbicides and other farm related chemicals.

Farm chemicals, when coming into contact with fire, can produce a toxic vapor and create a potential breathing hazard for firefighters and surrounding residents.

Bluhm said an aerial truck from the La Porte Fire Department was brought in to get more water onto the flames from up above once crews started ripping the metal roof from one of the structures with block walls.

The siding of the other structure was made of tin, which was torn away to get water inside from ground level.

Bluhm said the Indiana State Fire Marshal’s Office was called in to assist with the investigation but the cause was ruled undetermined.

He said there was too much destruction, though, to find any clues that would point to what started the blaze.

Tuholski said he was also puzzled to explain the source of ignition.

“I’ve been picking my brain since the fire trying to figure out what could have happened,” he said.