Damages estimated at more than $1M
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
About 100 cows out of 225 were lost as a result of a barn fire at Jobin Farms in Tecumseh, Ontario on Monday evening which caused damages estimated to be more than $1 million.
According to the Windsor Star, fire crews received word of the fire around 6 p.m. and upon arrival, found farmers trying to get the animals to safety.
Bob Hamilton, Tecumseh’s fire prevention officer, told the Star that the blaze started when a straw shredding machine, used to make finer straw for bedding, caught fire. The office of the Ontario Fire Marshal was contacted, but because the cause of the fire is known, it may not attend the scene.
When news of the fire reached other local farmers, they were on scene trying to assist their fellow producer.
Rick Fuerth, a sheep farmer, told the Star that approximately 50 farmers were there offering help and support; the surviving cows will be transported to a dairy farm near Aylmer.
Fifty firefighters from Tecumseh, LaSalle, Windsor, Lakeshore and Amherstburg responded to the situation. Due to the farm’s remote location, fire trucks had to fill up their tanks at area hydrants and shuttle the water back to the farm.
So far in 2016 there have been a total of 12 fires on Ontario farms.
Ontario barn fire timeline (latest to earliest):
- April 1 - Barn fire in Flamborough causes $150,000 in damages.
- Mar. 26 - Barn fire on Maryhill Road near the Ariss Valley Golf and Country Club takes the lives of 45 cattle with damage estimated at $500,000.
- Feb. 25 - 300 hogs lost in a barn fire near Listowel and 70 dairy cattle perish in a separate fire near Brockton, Ontario. The Brockton fire's damage is esimated at $500,000.
- Jan. 23 - 200 pigs are lost in a fire near Stratford.
- Jan. 19 - Parkhill barn fire claims 2,000 pigs and damage is estimated at $1.1 million.
- Afternoon of Jan. 17 - Six tractors and other equipment destroyed in Flamborough farm fire.
- Morning of Jan. 17 - 500 milking goats and nearly 30 cattle die in barn fire near Delaware.
- Jan. 16 - Empty barn burns in Georgetown.
- Jan. 14 - 13 Arabian horses killed in barn fire near Mount Forest.
- Jan. 5 - 43 Standardbred horses are lost in a Puslinch barn fire.