HILLSDALE COUNTY, MI – A fire destroyed one and a half barns at Wild World Zoo in rural Moscow Township on Tuesday, Dec. 15, according to owner Brendan Finerty.
Finerty returned home from running errands around 10:45 a.m. and saw six fire trucks parked on his property near the intersection of E. Mosherville and Roundtree roads in Hillsdale County, just south of the Jackson County line.
“We saw firefighters just standing where our barn had been,” Finerty said. “One of our barns was just completely gone and the other is about 50% destroyed.”
All the animals are safe and accounted for, including some free range rabbits that had a nest in one of the barns, Finerty said.
“Everything is gone,” Finerty said. “Everything that was in there – we were able to recover nothing. It’s a total loss.”
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The barn that was destroyed contained equipment, including a tractor and horse tack; mobile fencing and 2,000 pounds of feed, Finerty said. He estimates there’s around $60,000 in damages, including equipment and the building.
Finerty said he thinks his insurance company will cover about a quarter of the damages, in part because it might not have been insured correctly. Community members have offered monetary support, he said, adding a GoFundMe has been started to help offset the damage costs.
“The community outreach has been incredible,” Finerty said. “Never in a million years did we expect people to come forward with offering condolences, offering everything, saying ‘We want you guys to rebuild.’ … We really want to let the community know how thankful we are that people have been so kind and reached out to us and been incredible with this.”
Candi’s BZB Cafe, 225 S. Mechanic St., Napoleon Feed Mill, 120 Depot Court, and Tractor Supply Company have all donated to help feed the animals, Finerty said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the business hard, Finerty said. Most of its income is from pony rides at festivals and visiting schools and nursing homes, all of which have been affected by the coronavirus. Since March, Finerty has only worked about six days and will lose about 92% of the zoo’s income this year, he said.
“Everyone’s struggling so I don’t want to make it about ‘Woe is us,’ but the fact that people have come forward and helping with what they can has just been incredible,” he said.
The barns will hopefully be rebuilt in the spring and Finerty said he wants to make it better than before.
“We need to come back stronger,” he said. “That’s the plan we’re going with, come hell or high water, we are going to rebuild and come back out and give this community something to be proud of.”
The Moscow Township Fire Department did not return multiple calls and messages.
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