Scary! Roloff Farms’ chicken barn — the property owned by Little People Big World’s Matt Roloff — caught on fire on Tuesday, January 4.
“Never a dull moment here on the farm… we had a Fire in the Chicken barn !! A For real scary story,” Roloff, 60, recalled via a Wednesday, January 5, Instagram post about the Helvetia, Oregon, property. “Yesterday we dodged a bullet with our 110 year old sweet building. Thanks to my buddy Ty, who every year pushes me to have as many up to date fire extinguishers on @rolofffarms as we can fit in all the barns and structures AND the quick reactions of our farm hand Jason.”
The TLC personality noted in his social media upload that they ended up saving the barn’s structure — and the animals inside — after they saw smoke “pouring out the sides” and called 9-1-1.
“I had gotten home to the farm late the night before from AZ. It’s [sic] was 3:45 am before I crawled into bed, then [a] few hours of sleep later,” Roloff explained. “I hear the commotion in the chicken barn outside my window [and] flames are 6 ft high and spread along one of the interior walls. Between all the hands on the farm and the quick response of our local fire department, the barn is saved. Only some interior damage. Fire was caused by a light falling to the floor. Likely happened when all the chickens rush to get out their automatic door in the morning. No chickens were injured in the event.”
Alongside the Oregon native’s social media update, he shared a slideshow of footage of the local fire department arriving to his property as well as the leftover debris after the officers put the fire out.
“Never a dull moment indeed 😂,” Roloff’s daughter-in-law Isabel Rock (who married his son Jacob Roloff in September 2019) wrote via Instagram comment.
News of the farm’s fire comes days after his daughter-in-law Tori Roloff (née Patton) confirmed her husband, Zach Roloff, would no longer take over the farm after they moved to Washington.
“Nope. We’re loving this little slice of heaven,” Tori, 31, replied to a fan’s question via an Instagram Story Q&A earlier this week after she was asked if the couple would begin running the farm. “[The desire to buy the farm] definitely didn’t [disappear]. Some things just don’t go according to plan. But it all worked out for us.”
Matt previously owned the property alongside his ex-wife, Amy Roloff. Amy, 57, for her part, later sold her half to her ex upon their 2016 divorce.
“Matt approached me on this second time to buy me out and this was definitely a better time because now that I’m in my new house, there’s not as much grey area anymore,” Amy explained during a May 2021 episode of LPBW. “It’s like, this was this chapter. I have no part in the farm with this chapter. It’s changed. I knew that after the divorce became final, there were going to be some major changes. But it was a lot harder than I thought. Now that I’m in my own place and I’m off the farm, I think making the decision of a buyout has been easier because I don’t have as many emotions tied to it.”
While Matt has become the sole owner of the farm, he offered to host Amy’s — with whom he shares children Zachary, Jeremy, Jacob and Molly Roloff — wedding with now-husband Chris Marek.
“Dropped the keys to the farm in Chris’s hands last night,” Matt captioned an Instagram video in August 2021, one day before Amy’s second wedding. “Then after short 90 min drive … started having up close and personal wild life adventure on the Oregon coast. @carynchandler1 and I are staying with friends in their newly constructed amazing home. Keith and Robin introducing us to their neighborhood friends :)).”
