Wells Farm faces $2M loss after fire, community rallies behind it

The Wells Farm suffered more than $2 million in damages in the raging blaze that torched two structures and killed nearly 20 animals, the family said.

The destruction has been “a huge loss,” said Eric Wells Sr., the farm’s co-owner, in a phone interview Monday, Nov. 17.

The Nov. 12 fire at the Northville farm, in the Wells family since 1661, destroyed two of three barns. All of the chickens in one barn were killed, as well as two of the 20 pigs housed there.

Between the barns and the machinery, Wells estimated the losses at over $2 million. 

“It’s tough, really the only way to describe it because there’s really no words to truly describe what we’re going through,” he said. “It’s hard to try and bounce back from something like that.”

There has been a glimmer of hope amid the charred tractors and smoldering equipment after the flames were doused. The family has received immense support from fellow farmers and the wider North Fork community. 

“Some people have stopped by to lend their support [by] helping to clean up, and a few people have donated some tools for us,” Mr. Wells said. “[Other local farmers] feel for us, they really do. Some retired farmers had stopped in who still have some old machinery, and they offered to let us use their old machinery.” 

He’s also thankful that his two teenage daughters and wife escaped any serious harm. The girls, along with a Riverhead police officer, suffered smoke inhalation and were rushed to Peconic Bay Medical Center.

While at the hospital, doctors found that Mr. Wells’ wife suffered minor burns on her chest from the smoke, he said.

Despite the scare, the dad expressed pride in his teenagers for rushing to save the pigs.

“It’s very nice to know that my kids are that attached to the family business,” said Mr. Wells, adding that the girl returned to school this week. “It’s sad they had to go to the hospital for it, and really it’s not something I would have asked them to do, but at the time, it’s what needed to be done.” 

The surviving animals are doing better as well after the stressful night, Mr. Wells added.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for donations to help the family rebuild Wells Farm. As of Thursday afternoon, it has raised nearly $11,275 out of the $22,000 goal.

Riverhead’s oldest farming family, rooted since 1661

Wells Farm has survived the Revolutionary War, the Industrial Revolution, two World Wars and the population boom that’s squeezed the North Fork’s agricultural heritage.

Now, Riverhead’s oldest farming family faces the challenge of rebuilding after last week’s fire caused more than $2 million in damage.

The farm traces its roots back 364 years to Nov. 20, 1661, a year after 13 Puritan families from the New Haven Colony in Connecticut came across Long Island Sound to live among the native Shinnecock tribe.

The Puritans formed Southold Town, whose elders established Aquebogue with 40 lots the following year. Three of those were allotted to William Wells for his family to farm near Phillips Lane on Sound Avenue.

“The original deed went from the Sound to the bay, and over the generations, quite a bit of it got sold off, and then different family members got different portions,” said Eric Wells Sr. of Wells Farm, located at 4976 Sound Ave. “We’re lucky enough to have this section [on Sound Avenue] still, and some cousins of ours have another section. We’re still able to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Wells Farm, which had grown to about 300 acres over the centuries, is the only property to keep its original name from its inception, according to a 1937 article in the County Review, an earlier version of this publication.

Mr. Wells is a 12th-generation farmer and operates one portion with his parents, Todd and Laura Wells, and his wife, Darlyn. They sell livestock to the public, and grain and potatoes wholesale.

The other portion is run by Matt Wells, one of the sons of the late Lyle Wells, who died in a tractor accident in 2018. His Wells Homestead Acres at 4549 Sound Ave. is Long Island’s largest asparagus producer and also grows squash, zucchini and cut flowers.

To ensure this land was preserved as farmland, as their father would have wanted, the siblings sold the development rights to 11.16 acres of the Wells farmland along Phillips Lane in 2021.