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Brooksville family loses hay, tools and farm equipment after barn catches on fire Christmas Eve

The fire started around 5:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Brooksville family loses hay, farm equipment after barn fire on Christmas Eve
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BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Hernando County family is overcoming a devastating loss after a barn on their property caught on fire.

The fire happened on Christmas Eve around 5:30 p.m.

WATCH: Brooksville family loses hay, tools and farm equipment after barn catches on fire Christmas Eve

Brooksville family loses hay, farm equipment after barn fire on Christmas Eve

Gloria and Joseph Hall have a farm in Brooksville. They were feeding the cows when they noticed flames coming from the barn.

"That's when my husband saw smoke coming from the barn and orange flames coming out of it, so he ran from the pasture to the barn so that he could get my parents out because they were in the RV next to the barn," said Gloria Hall.

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Hernando County Fire responded to the fire and got it under control in about 30 minutes. No one was injured.

Hall said she does not know what caused the fire, but it destroyed everything inside the barn, including tools, farm equipment, hay and a nearby RV.

She said her family had been working on an apartment for her parents inside the barn.

"We had a one bedroom apartment that we were about one month from completion. Everything was done. We had the floors to lay that Saturday to put down. Cabinets were hung, brand new appliances were still in the packaging and were inside the one bedroom apartment, so all of that was a complete loss," said Hall.

Hall said the community's support has been amazing with people donating hay and a camper for her parents to use for a few months.

"Then another huge thing is we had PAW Materials come out and they brought huge equipment and dumpsters, and they took all the debris down. and it took them like a day and a half," she said.

A GoFundMe page is also collecting donations to help the Hall family rebuild.

Hall said she is grateful her family and animals are safe.

"This was hard and it's still hard. It's still emotional and we have a lot to figure out and there's a lot of loss financially and material wise. We have faith so we know that God has a plan and he's going to see us through," she said.


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