In dense fog, nine fire departments responded to a fire at Wolff’s Bellefontaine Farms Inc., on Henry Road near Basco on the evening of Saturday, February 2nd, including Belleville, New Glarus, Verona, Mount Horeb, Fitchburg, Town of Madison, Monticello, Brooklyn, Blanchardville and Juda.

Fortunately for the Wolffs, former employee Rob Klassy and his wife, Jill, drove by and smelled something and, after a second look, Klassy saw flames. He immediately called 911 and then turned off the LP tanks.

“There was definitely divine intervention,” said Betty Wolff. “It was too early for Greg to do his regular shed checks and if Rob hadn’t been familiar with the farm and had the sense to turn off the gas, we could have lost a lot more. We are very lucky.”

Greg explained that the fire was on the west end and the east end of the shed, some 240 feet apart. He estimates about 3,500 pheasants were lost, “not due to fire, but to smoke.”

He added that the fire was so hot that it welded the LP line to the side of the building.

The pheasant operation consists of raising day-old white pheasant chicks from McFarlane Pheasants Inc., on the south side of Janesville.

The Wolffs keep roosters for about 13 weeks and hens for about 15 weeks. At this point the roosters weigh about 3.9 pounds and the hens weigh about 3.25 pounds, explained Greg.

McFarlane Pheasants Inc., has grown to be the largest pheasant farm in North America and among the largest in the world. Last year, MacFarlane Pheasants Inc., hatched 2 million pheasants and raised more than 550,000 adult pheasants, about as many as the next few largest North American producers combined. These pheasants are sold through McFarlane Pheasants Inc., to upscale restaurants throughout the U.S.

Greg explained that they have the capacity to raise 12 different ages of pheasants at one time.

“Generally we have about eight different ages of pheasants,” said Greg.

When the pheasant operation started, Greg said that they raised about 13,000 pheasants annually. Since the mid-1990s, they have raised between 80,000 and 90,000 pheasants each year, but during the last few years it has been more than 110,000 pheasants per year.

Greg and Betty want to thank all of the fire departments that responded, Belleville Police Department, Dane County Sheriff’s Department, Rob and Jill Klassy, Steve and Sandra Viney, Jim Schnieder, Dawn and Gary Bahr, Todd and Derek Bahr, Brian and Yogi Brown and families, Sam Marty, Roger and Linda Butts, Rick Sies, Joe Lange, Denny and Peggy Meyer, Mike and Cindy O’Connor, Bill and Luann Pauli; and so many other friends and families and former employees who have offered to help.