Ethiopian Review

CALGARY — Thousands of pigs were killed in a hog barn fire on the Cluny Hutterite Colony, gutting a main source of income and causing up to $9 million in loss and damages.

And the small community 120 km east of Calgary was yesterday just starting the onerous cleanup and coming to grips with the devastation caused by the blaze, barn manager Johnny Tschetter said.

70% OF COLONY’S INCOME

“Eighty people live here and 70% of our income comes from that building,” he said yesterday.

“I can’t begin to explain what this means to us … it’s hard.”

The blaze broke out about 6 p.m. Friday in the 110,000-sq. ft. barn and is thought to have been sparked by a mechanical failure with a feed auger, Cluny fire Chief Franky Tschetter said.

By the time it was spotted by a worker returning to the barn after dinner break, it was too late to spare the lives of any of the pigs inside.

“There was just so much smoke,” Tschetter said. “They were already dead from smoke inhalation … it was a painless death.”

Fire crews from four nearby communities joined Cluny crews to attack the huge blaze.

While crews managed to stop it from spreading to other buildings, including a grain building two metres away, Tschetter said the fact the ventilation system dragged fire inside to the centre of the building made it challenging to attack.

“We just let it burn,” he said. “We just kept water on the building to keep it cool.”

The concrete and metal construction, in essence, allowed the fire to rage for as long as it did, Johnny said. “It was like a big oven once it started.”

Crews were on scene until about 2 a.m. yesterday. By afternoon, they were still contending with hot spots as the small community came to grips with their loss, which translated into about 60,000 pounds of pork ready to go to market.

BIG CLEANUP TASK

“It will take a lot to clean it up,” Johnny said, adding volunteers from other colonies will help with that job. “We have 15,000 dead hogs which have to be pulled out of there, metal and tin.”

No cause had been determined yesterday for the fire.

- By NADIA MOHARIB | Edmonton Sun