A Manitoba farmer is left with the brutal aftermath of a fire that tore through his New Bothwell farm Thursday night.
Jason Falk is a part owner of Hespeler Hog Farms. He was at home when he said his neighbour came by, asking him if his barns were on fire.
“I thought he was talking about someone else’s barns,” Falk said. “As I drove out to see the smoke billowing, I called 9-1-1 immediately.”
The New Bothwell fire crew arrived on scene shortly after 9:30 p.m., but called in crews from Kleefeld, Grunthal, and a water tanker from Niverville.
Falk could no nothing but watch as part of the facility burned to the ground.
Two barns with a connecting link were destroyed, and an estimated 3,500 to 4,000 pigs perished in the fire.
As the cleanup began, crews continued to put out hot spots, but hoped to have them extinguished by later Friday night.
“This is still a contained fire scene. We’re working to remove some of the metal and debris off the top of the farm structure,” said Wiebe
(Source: Steinbach Online)
Hespeler Hog Farms is a family operation with eight shareholders. The facility is left with two finisher barns and a nursery barn.
The farm has had a difficult spring, first having to deal with porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). PED is very contagious and is generally fatal to small pigs, although older pigs can recover.
“So this will just complicate that, as there will be a lot of traffic coming and going. So we want to make sure we do not contribute to the spread of this for sure.” said Falk.
The facility has three employees, all of whom Falk said will remain on staff and be taken care of.
“They’re going through the same things we are, wondering what happened and why it happened,” Falk said.
The cause of the fire isn’t yet known. The Office of the Fire Commissioner is assisting with the investigation.
Wiebe said the damage is expected to be in the millions.
(Source: Steinbach Online)
As he awaits answers, Falk said he’s grateful for the community that has rallied around him.
“You lean on your friends and your community a lot,” Falk said. “I have a very strong community that’s just very much behind us in that regard. You can probably hear it in the voice. This is a very tough, emotional time for us.”
