Tragedy hits again for councilwoman

WEST MILFORD — There's such sadness in Councilwoman Ada Erik's voice. For the second time in just three months, tragedy has struck for her. Early Sunday morning, Feb. 16, part of the roof on her barn collapsed, causing an electric fire that killed three horses, one pony, 67 chickens, two cats and a dog.

This comes on the heels of a Thanksgiving morning accident that took the lives of three of her horses, a goats and a Zonkey. Winds caused a tree to crash through a fence on her Macopin Road farm. As she herded the animals up to lead them back to her farm, a driver came around a curve and hit them, Erik suffered a broken hand in the accident, which has required surgeries and is still in a cast.

On Saturday night, Feb. 15, Erik said she went out into the barn to check on her animals. She fed them and opened the back door. But too much snow blew in; the snow in the field was just too deep to let them out so she closed the door. And then she listened.

"You always listen when there's a lot of snow on the roof," said Erik. "There were no creeks, no crackles. All you could hear were the horses chewing."

After about 20 minutes, she went back into her house. Her phone rang at 2:50 a.m. West Milford police were calling to let her know the barn was on fire. Her neighbor, who had gotten up through the night, noticed it and called it in. Her husband tried to run over to help.

The back of the barn was where the collapse happened. That part had been closed off since the Thanksgiving incident. In addition to the loss of her animals, her feed room, that had recently been stocked with feed and shavings and where she kept her horse blankets, was also destroyed,

The weight of snow on flat roofs in particular are a concern to property owners. A roof at West Milford Lakes collapsed last week, as did a garage roof on Quarry Road, according to Erik. The library's gutters came down under the weight of the ice in them.

Ironically, it was the animals closest to the fire that survived, according to Erik. Horses Aztec and Ma, Hank the miniature and two goats made it out, as did the five dogs Erik was keeping for her vacationing sister. One of the dogs, though, ran back into the barn and died.

The animals that didn't make it, died from smoke inhalation, she believes.

Erik said the weight of the snow caused the collapse. It probably wouldn't have happened, she said, had her hand been healthy.

"I would have been up on that roof clearing it long ago," she said.

For now, what's left of the barn remains empty. The surviving animals are living in the horse trailer and the corral. The front of the barn is usable, she said, but the smell and the soot prevent that from happening just yet. It all has to be cleaned. And that must wait for Erik's hand to be healthy.

With a broken heart, Erik said she will get through this loss too. She has a philosophy, she said.

"There are things I can't change."