VERMONTVILLE — A barn fire at a home in Vermontville killed three goats and brought out numerous fire departments on Tuesday afternoon. The property owners are now fundraising to replace the workshop and goat shelter they lost in the blaze.

The Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department responded to the fire at 8200 state Route 3 at 5:19 p.m. with mutual aid from the Paul Smiths-Gabriels, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid volunteer fire departments. BVFD Chief Michael Woodruff said there were a total of 12 trucks and more than 30 members on-scene.

Melanie and Jacob Tendler, who own the property, started a GoFundMe to rebuild the barn, replace thousands of dollars of tools and give the surviving goats shelter as soon as possible. The fundraiser can be found at gofund.me/812736f3. As of 4 p.m. Thursday, it had raised $300.

Melanie said the fire was in an animal barn that they were building with their own hands. The barn is where they kept seven “spoiled and insanely loved” goats. Their youngest “mama goat,” “Zero,” and her two one-week-old babies were killed in the fire. The other goats, Jack, Sally, Mustang and Paisley all had access to the outside and were able to get out safely.

Jacob and Melanie were returning from a meeting with a client for his company, JT Masonry, when they arrived and saw 30-foot flames coming from the barn.

“My wife jumped out of the car before I could even park it to try to save all the goats,” he said.

Woodruff said neighbors and passers-by were also attempting to save the goats. Jacob said they are “devastated” that they could not save all of them.

By the time the fire department was called in by a next-door neighbor, the barn was already fully involved in flames, Woodruff said, and by the time the fire department arrived, it was beyond saving. It was a wooden barn with lots of hay inside.

Woodruff said several tanker trucks supplied water while others pulled water from Sumner Brook three-and-a-half miles away from the scene. He was thankful that at this time of year, the shallow stream is flowing high with spring melt. He was also thankful that the land is not dry like it was at this time last year, or the fire could have spread to several homes and lean-tos nearby. Firefighters knocked down the flames and pulled apart hay to avoid flare-ups.

The firefight was over at 7:56 p.m.

Woodruff said the cause of the fire is currently unknown, and Franklin County Cause and Origin team is investigating. Jacob said he believes it was caused by an electrical problem.

In the GoFundMe, Melanie said the goats need hay, feed and shelter, and that they were looking for donations of lumber, tools, hay and hardware, which can be dropped off at their home next to a brown metal shed.

“Anything you think would be helpful in our time of need will not be turned down,” she wrote.

The GoFundMe contains a list of tools and equipment Jacob needs to continue his masonry work.