TOWN OF TRENTON — Roughly 250 cows were killed in a large barn fire at the Terry Jones Farm on Whittaker Road Sunday morning.

Volunteers from seven departments battled the blaze for several hours throughout the day. The cause of the fire has been traced to an electrical malfunction in a tractor, according to fire officials.

“We had multiple master stream operations, including an aerial truck,” said Trenton Joint Fire District Chief Kevin Kalk this morning.

No one was in the barn when the fire started, and Kalk said it is so far unknown if any family members or farm employees were even on the property at 10306 Whittaker Road. He said passersby noticed the smoke and called 9-1-1 shortly after 11 a.m.

Upon arrival, Kalk said volunteers from seven fire departments located a 60-foot by 200-foot barn fully involved, with part of the barn already collapsed. Kalk said there were initially reports that some workers might be trapped inside, but they learned that was not the case by the time they arrived on scene.

“Due to the smoke and flames and high heat, we were unable to get any of the animals out,” the chief said.

The barn held approximately 250 head of cattle and 10,000 bales of hay, Kalk stated. The farm is located southeast of the Village of Holland Patent, just west of Route 12.

“The tin roof held a lot of the heat inside,” Kalk stated. Two local contractors donated their excavators to help tear off the tin roof and started digging through the hay bales to douse hot spots.

The fire took about 50 minutes to get under control, Kalk said. Crews remained on the scene for about seven hours digging through the smoldering hay and putting out hot spots. Kalk said crews were back on the scene this morning to continue dousing all remaining smolder spots.

“The site will still be smoldering for a few days,” he stated.

The cause of the fire was an “electrical malfunction” in a tractor stored in the barn, the chief said. The tractor had been used to spread manure earlier that morning. The state Office of Fire Prevention and Control assisted with the investigation.

Ten different fire trucks were used to tanker water to the scene, using three fill sites in nearby ponds, the chief said.

Kalk said no people were injured during the firefight.

The Holland Patent, Barneveld, Stittville, Floyd, Remsen, Deerfield and Western fire departments responded, with Poland and Boonville on standby. Both STaR Ambulance and AmCare Ambulance were also on standby during the firefight.