AUBURN – Firefighters battled a blaze Tuesday, saving a herd of milking cows but losing a century-old farmhouse and barn.

The blaze erupted shortly before 4 a.m. in a hay barn attached to the two-story house on Penley Corner Road.

Investigators blamed the fire on damp hay stored in the barn’s loft.

Witnesses heard a “whoosh” come from the barn where the hay was stored, followed by smoke, officials said. That description is consistent with a combustion fire caused by wet hay, fire officials said.

Firefighters fought the flames to keep them from spreading to other buildings, but ran out of water. A house cat was still missing Tuesday afternoon.

The fire was brought under control enough to herd cows from the pasture into a nearby shed for their morning milking, officials said.

Graceland Dairy Farms is owned by Roger Gauthier Jr. He bought the 105-acre farm about 25 years ago from his father, the elder Roger Gauthier, when the latter retired, said Shawn Gauthier, another son.

Roger Gauthier Jr., 51, lived on the first floor with Virginia Beauchesne. A farmhand, Ronald Niggle, lived on the second floor. Everyone escaped safely from the house, said Auburn Fire Prevention Officer Gary Simard. Gauthier was checked at the scene for possible smoke inhalation.

Graceland also housed Gauthier’s collection of Elvis memorabilia, which included plates, magazines, statues and two concert tickets. The fire destroyed all of it. The collection was worth about $5,000.

Shawn Gauthier, 40, who lives up the road but grew up in the house, said he heard the engines and stepped outside early Tuesday morning.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my God.’ My heart just fell out of me,” he said.

By 10 a.m., only the front facade and two chimneys were still standing in a pile of smoking rubble. A backhoe later knocked down the front wall and spread out the rubble so firefighters could soak the smoldering remains beneath. Debris from the barn was scattered and covered with foam to keep the hay from igniting, Simard said.

Roger Gauthier Jr. kept working while firefighters doused flames that shot up out of the rubble.

He was able to herd his 76 milking cows and 12 calves down a path, dampened by firefighters, to a shed for the morning milking at 8. Neighbors came to help with the chores, Simard said. Members of the city’s electrical department helped hook up a generator to get the milking machines running, he said.

“It was a real good joint effort,” he said.

Firefighters from seven surrounding communities responded to the scene, bringing water to the remote locale. Trucks refilled at the closest hydrant three miles away.

Firefighters were in the house trying to keep the blaze confined to the barn, but they ran out of water, Simard said. They carried 3,000 gallons of water on the Auburn trucks, he said.

The call came in at 3:57 a.m. The first truck arrived at the scene 11 minutes later, Simard said.