WELLINGTON TWP. – A fire destroyed a Quarry Road barn early Friday filled with antique cars and sentimental trinkets.

Homeowner Merrie Guelker called the losses “astronomical,” but said she and her husband, Rodger, are insured and will without a doubt rebuild the structure.

The Wellington Fire Department was called to the Guelkers’ home at 21011 Quarry Road about 1:30 a.m. and arrived to find the 40-foot by 80-foot barn engulfed in flames, Lt. Bill Brown said.

“The middle of the building looked like a chimney, with fire shooting out of it,” Brown said.

Guelker said she was watching TV in her home when she began hearing popping sounds that she believed might be her neighbor shooting at coyotes. When she decided they didn’t sound quite like his gun, she awoke her husband, Rodger Guelker, who noticed the fire and called 911.

Rodger Guelker was able to save a motor home that was parked near the barn by driving it out into the yard.

Brown said firefighters had the fire under control within about half an hour and remained on the scene for nearly three hours to hit all the hot spots and keep it from reigniting.

The fire was so intense “it basically ran out of things to burn,” Brown said.

He said the Guelkers’ home had some melted siding.

The barn didn’t contain any animals, but it contained at least six vehicles, some of which were expensive antique cars, according to Brown.

It also contained various tools and equipment, he said.

“One of the propane tanks on a grill started popping off, but it was never a danger to us,” Brown said.

Merrie Guelker said the vehicles in the bar were an Escalade Platinum Edition, a 1955 Chevrolet, a 1945 or 1946 Willy’s Truck, a Cadillac and a Corvette from the 1970s and what she called an “ice cream truck” but didn’t know the make or model of.

Brown said he couldn’t even begin to estimate a figure for damage because he didn’t know the values of the antique cars.

He said a damage estimate for the structure alone is about $60,000 to $70,000.

Merrie Guelker said she expected the losses totaled $400,000 or more.

But financial losses weren’t the only thing on her mind. Much of what she lost held significant sentimental value, including a 45-year-old crib she was hoping to use for a great-grandchild that is about to be born and her mother’s 92-year-old cedar chest, which she was refinishing.

Still, she’s keeping the losses in perspective.

“All of that can be replaced – a life can’t,” she said. “That’s my concern.”

Brown said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Merrie Guelker said she and her husband believe the cause was electrical, based on where the fire started.

Often fires this bad are undetermined, Brown said, due to the extent of the damage.

Brown said firefighters from Rochester, Camden and Litchfield townships helped extinguish the fire.

Contact Rona Proudfoot at 329-7124 or rproudfoot@chroniclet.com.

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