Everett, Wash.
Published: Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Heavy snow takes barns with it

Farm structures in the county seemed to take the brunt of the weight of the snow.

By Gale Fiege
Herald Writer

 ARLINGTON -- A barn that houses a popular summer art show collapsed under the weight of snow that collected over the past couple of weeks, raising questions about where the annual event will be held in 2009.

Snow also caused pens at Sarvey Wildlife Center to give way and knocked over a barn at a horse-riding arena in north Snohomish County.

On Friday morning, Brian Yantis headed out to feed his family's cattle on their small ranch 10 miles east of Arlington. Walking from his house to the 40-year-old barn where the hay was stored, Yantis realized the structure had buckled under the weight of the heavy wet snow.

"It was real shock," Yantis said.

No one was hurt and no animals were harmed, but the Yantis barn likely won't house the annual Art in the Barn show next summer.

His mother, Monica Yantis, is a member of the Arlington Arts Council. A painter, she has hosted the popular art show for four years and was planning for the fifth annual show in June.

The family's insurance representative hasn't been out to assess the damage yet.

If an art show is to be staged at the Yantis place, it could be on the concrete slab where the hay barn once stood, Monica Yantis said.

"It's been such great community event," she said. "We'll have to see what the artists want to do."

In the meantime, Brian Yantis and his father Ted are trying to salvage what they can of the more than 100 hay bales that had been kept dry in the 48-by-60-foot barn.

"We could be miserable, but that's not going to do us any good," Monica Yantis said.

The Yantis family was able to keep its carport and greenhouse free of snow, but never thought their barn would give way, she said.

Slushy wet snow can weigh 20 pounds or more per cubic foot, the National Ag Safety Database Web site says.

At the Sarvey Wildlife Center southeast of Arlington, volunteers and staff worked night and day to brush the snow off the pens that house wild animals and birds, which are at the center to get veterinary attention.

"We broke every broom we had trying to sweep the snow off," Sarvey president Jeff Guidry said.

After spending most of Christmas Day trying to keep pens cleared, wildlife center volunteers ended up losing their battle. More than six pens were destroyed and another nine sustained heavy damage, Guidry said.

No animals or birds were injured, but the cost to replace the avian flight enclosures for raptors and pens for otters, raccoons and bobcats will be high, he said.

"The nets had withstood a lot of snow over the years, but we never had this much before," Guidry said.

Center officials are beginning to clear the debris from the broken pens and work parties are forming, he said.

At the Meadowgate farm east of Stanwood, sisters Michele Blockley and ­Stephanie ­Blockley-Clarke were making arrangements Monday to move 22 horses to temporary housing.

The women run a family business -- a horse-riding arena and stable -- on their parent's former chicken farm. Blockley-Clarke teaches riding lessons and they care for their 12 horses and 10 horses belonging to clients.

On Dec. 22, the farm's 70-by-200-foot riding arena collapsed and several other barns on the property fell down, too. The force from the collapse of one threw Blockley's husband Mark Schrader back about 10 feet, she said.

Nobody else was injured and no horses were hurt, Blockley said.

The family doesn't carry any insurance on the riding arena, which had a new $40,000 roof, Blockley said.

"The clean-up will take months and months," she said. "We will be trying to salvage what we can and we will rebuild."

Neighbors, clients and friends have volunteered time to help the sisters.

An effort had been made to keep the snow off flat roofs around the farm, Blockley said. Snow drifts of about 4 feet had accumulated on the farm.

"It could have been a lot worse," she said. "We had 3 feet of heavy wet snow and hadn't seen anything like it in 30 years. The horses are doing OK."

How to help

To help restore Sarvey Wildlife Center, contact kelly@sarveywildlife.org or 360-435-4817, or go online to www.sarveywildlife.org.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA