Two Glenrock 4-H Club families say the local community has rallied around them after a Saturday fire claimed a shop they relied on that housed 4-H supplies, animal feed, a boat and other possessions.
For one of the families with children planning to show pigs at the Converse County Fair starting Saturday, the show will go on.
Kori Wulf said she had friends over at her home on the Fourth of July. Children there were waving sparklers, lighting off small fireworks and throwing away spent items in a trash can inside the shop she owns next to her home.
It’s believed that is what started the blaze.
Her family was woken up by a police officer early Saturday morning telling them that the shop about 30 feet from their residence was burning. A passerby had noticed the smoke and called 911.
“We were hearing explosions, but we thought it was somebody who was still shooting off fireworks and it was actually stuff in the shop that was exploding,” Wulf said. “My husband is the one who pretty much saved our house.
“He went outside right away and started wetting the house down as soon as he could. It was his quick thinking that saved that.”
Codi Baughman and her son and daughter are good friends with the Wulf family. Baughman’s children keep their pigs in pens on the Wulf’s property.
They lost their 4-H supplies and feed for their pigs in the flames in addition to 4-H supplies they planned to borrow from the Wulf family.
“I was letting the (Baughman’s) use a lot of our stuff for fair,” Kori Wulf said. “Pig whips and you name it; everything was in the shop.”
GoFundMe campaigns for each family have been set up by the Sand Creek 4-H Club. A one-day fundraiser at Sips Coffee on Monday across multiple locations in Wyoming also aimed to help the families with a percentage of sales.
Damani Baughman did not have a good experience at the fair last year, his mom said he wanted to try again. Because of community’s generosity, he will be able to do that. (Courtesy Codi Baughman) 
Twisted metal is all that is left of the Wulf family’s shop. (Courtesy Kori Wulf) 
The Wulf family’s 1,400-square-foot shop building was totally destroyed by fire on Saturday, left. At right, Taliyah Baughman plans to show her pig at this year’s Converse County Fair. (Courtesy Codi Baughman) 
The Wulf family lost a lot of possessions in the Saturday fire, including inherited tools, family memorabilia, and 4-H supplies and feed. (Courtesy Wulf Family)
Supportive Community
“The way the community has responded to help us has just been baffling to me and my husband,” Wulf said. “It’s just been amazing. Anything is helpful to help us build back. Something like this really disrupts your life.”
Wulf said her family had insurance on shop, which was more than 1,400 square feet in size. But some things will be hard to replace, and it will take time before the insurance claims come through. Meanwhile, they need to get tools and other equipment for their horse and chickens.
Neighbors have come over with fly spray for the pigs to prevent infectionand other supplies to help them get through.
In addition to a cabin cruiser boat, Wulf said, the family lost her husband’s tools, tools she inherited from her father, tack, saddles, kayaks, lawn mowers, power equipment, tires, 4-H equipment for her sons that include a fitting shoe, brushes, feed buckets, a half-pallet of feed and a lot of family memorabilia.
“You name it, we lost it,” Kori Wulf said. “The animals thank God weren’t in there and weren’t lost.”
Wulf said her two sons, Tyler and Brandon, had taken a break from showing at 4-H this year but have shown pigs and steers in past years.
Baughman said the Wulfs encouraged her kids to try 4-H. She feels sorry for the Wulf’s losses.
In addition to the 4-H supplies such as bug spray and different medication rubs, the fire claimed their feed and wood shavings that were meant for the pens at the fair.
“One thing I was worried about was the feed,” she said. The fly spray was also important for the pigs’ ears to keep them from becoming infected prior to the fair.
Baughman, a single mother, said she had never been part of 4-H as a child. She said her children, Damani, 12, and Taliyah, 10, are in their second year participating.
Thankful Family
Last year her son had a rough experience and lost a pig before fair to sickness and replaced it with a runt, but it did not make weight before the fair.
Her daughter did fine showing her pig. She said her son wanted to try showing a pig again. They’ve raised a Hereford and two Durocs for this year’s fair.
“We’re going to be OK,” she said. “Glenrock really pulled through. There were so many people who were just so willing to help us through the next two weeks until fair is over.”
Baughman said one of the pigs her son plans to show and the other one he has will be sold on the livestock market. Her daughter will show her pig.
Preparing for fair showing without the community’s generosity would have been impossible, Baughman said.
Farmers and ranchers have donated things that they needed to be able to make it happen such as show brushes, show whips, fly spray, antiseptics and more.
“Douglas Feed donated 10 bags of feed for us which was amazing,” Baughman said. “Anything that we really need Glenrock has put forth for us, so we are going to be OK as far as 4-H goes. I was really stressed in the beginning, and it was a hard blow, very emotional for a few days.”
A native of Glenrock and a cosmetologist, Baughman said it was initially “uncomfortable” to be on the receiving end of her community’s love.
“But I am so appreciative. It was very unexpected,” she said. “It’s mind-blowing.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
