NORTH GOWER – When the hired hand’s boy, 12-year-old Ben Freeman, called 911 to report that the Droogh family’s barn was burning he wasn’t believed.

Firefighters tackling a grass fire near Kemptville sent someone to look for smoke at the Droogh farm about 10 kilometres away, south of urban Ottawa. Despite that delay, firefighters were on the scene within 15 minutes, John Droogh said.

He added that the 911 emergency call line deals with a lot of crank calls from children.

Three of the five Droogh boys came to the rescue of about 30 Holsteins as their father’s heifer barn, an old heavy timber-framed antique, burned to the ground last month.

The Drooghs lost seven replacement heifers in the fire. Sons, Jacob, 15, Joshua, 13, and Jesse, 11, ran to the barn to block about 30 spooked heifers on pasture attempting to get back inside. Not understanding the nature of cattle, firefighters yelled at the Droogh boys to get out of the way as they feared a silo might topple over. Jacob ordered the boys the stand their ground as the cattle crowded in.

There were 53 firefighters battling the blaze, which started May 25 at 3:30 p.m. The barn was more than 80-years-old.

The Drooghs milk 120 Holsteins at Shadylane Farms on Fourth Line Road, just north of North Gower.