The fire occurred on Nov. 10
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
Manitoba’s Office of the Fire Commissioner has determined the cause of a Pansy, Man. barn fire responsible for killing over 7,000 pigs last week.
“A mechanical issue is the cause for the fire,” a provincial spokesperson told Farms.com today. “The cause has also been determined as accidental.”
The Grunthal Fire Department responded to the fire just before 7:00 a.m. on Nov. 10.
When firefighters arrived on scene, one barn were completely engulfed, according to Paul Wiebe, chief of the Rural Municipality of Hanover Fire Department.
“One of the barns was completely involved with fire and it was quickly spreading to the second barn,” he told CBC on Nov. 10. “The total complex housed 3,000 sows and about 6,000 weanlings. We managed to save about 1,500 of the sows, so the rest have all perished.”
The loss is hard on the producers, Weibe says.
“It’s obviously devastating for the farmers and employees,” he told CTV Winnipeg on Nov. 12. “Their animals are their livelihood and they take good care of them.”
No people were injured in the blaze. Damage is estimated at $4.5 million, the provincial spokesperson said.
Farms.com has reached out to Weibe for more information into the barn fire.
The Nov. 10 barn fire is the second in this year that has caused extensive losses on a Manitoba swine farm.
About 3,500 pigs perished in a fire on a farm near New Bothwell, Man. in June.
Top photo:SteinbachOnline.com