Arson on the farm?

An early-morning fire Tuesday at 12685 Dutch Hollow Road destroyed a barn on the property of Pullen Farm, owned by Ralph Pullen, taking along with it 1,200 bales of horse hay, 600 bales of cattle hay and some farm equipment.

The fire started at 12:08 a.m. according to Culpeper County Volunteer Department Co. 1 Capt. Wayne Sutphin, who indicated it may be suspicious in nature.

“It appears to be arson,” Sutphin said Tuesday afternoon.

According to Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Les Tyler the fire is under investigation and he could not confirm the cause of the fire. He said the agency is trying to find the cause and origin of the fire.

“There’s no current in the barn, there was no equipment in there except some wagons; someone had to set the barn on fire,” Pullen said by phone Tuesday.

He is offering a $5,000 reward for information about the fire. Informants can place calls to Crime Solvers at 727-0300.

Pullen said there was some evidence left behind, but to protect the investigation he did not want to elaborate.

“From what we found it looked like whoever did it knew what he was doing,” Pullen said. “It’s not something we even keep on the farm.”

The Angus beef cattle farm has 500 head on it now counting calves, Pullen said. No livestock were harmed in the fire.

Pullen has lost a barn to a tornado, but had never had a fire on his property

The structure, 200-feet by 100-feet, still had hot spots as of press time.

“It’s still burning,” Sutphin said. “We couldn’t get all of the bales out so the property owner has said he’ll keep an eye on it.”

Pullen, who built his house on the property in 1960, was devastated by the loss of his barn.

“I know that I had put $45,000 into the barn when I built it in the late 1970s or ’80s, but it was probably worth three times that now,” Pullen said.

Pullen’s daughter called him around midnight, thinking the neighbors’ house was going up in flames. Instead, it turned out to be on his property.

By the time Pullen and his wife made it to the barn around 12:15, the structure was fully engulfed.

The flames only scorched another barn on the property — the fertilizer barn — even though it sat 100 feet away.

Pullen said he left the barn Monday around 5:30 p.m. and everything was fine.

The blaze has left Pullen dazed, wondering how something like this could happen to him.

“No one knows how much work it takes … then some jack rabbit comes and takes that away, it’s discouraging,” Pullen said.

Units from Culpeper, Brandy Station, Little Fork, Reva and Amissville assisted during the blaze. Culpeper County Volunteer Rescue Squad Co. 11, Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office and the Virginia Department of Forestry also provided assistance.

Jeff Say can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 115 or at .