EDITOR’S NOTES
By Sharon Laidlaw
[
ONE TOO MANY BARN FIRES
You owe it to yourself and all your farm employees to take every precaution to reduce the risks
I
know I’ve written about this topic before,
but I believe it’s worth repeating. At the
time of penning my column, I read about
another barn fire, this time near Waterloo,
which killed 44 cows.
The fire broke out on March 26 in the
rural township of Woolwich. News reports
stated the cows were in a wooden barn
when the fire started, and only one survived. Investigators believed the fire was
sparked by a hay blower. Damage was estimated at nearly $500 million.
You may recall other news reports of
various fires that have claimed many livestock, including more than 2,000 pigs,
500 goats, 30 cows, nearly 50 horses, including 43 racehorses, and a barn full of
chickens.
According to an article posted on the website of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs, entitled Barn Fires
– A Concern for Ontario Farmers, recent farm
growth has resulted in larger and more expensive farm buildings. As a result, when these
large structures catch fire they are more difficult to extinguish and the financial losses are
significantly greater. Data from the Ontario
Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency
Management revealed the following structure
fire incidents for the period 2008-2014:
• 2008: 184 fire incidents, $30.3 million loss;
• 2009: 186 fire incidents, $25.45 million loss;
• 2010: 164 fire incidents, $29.4 million loss;
• 2011: 186 fire incidents, $35.96 million loss;
• 2012: 136 fire incidents, $16 million loss;
• 2013: 157 fire incidents, $31.8 million loss;
• 2014: 150 fire incidents, $28.4 million loss.
These costs include those associated with
building structures, but not equipment, agricultural products or livestock. The article further outlined the main causes of fires. The office provided data for the cause of fires for the
years 2008 to 2014. In each year, the leading
causes for preventable, determined fires were:
• mechanical/electrical failure;
• misuse of ignition source/equipment;
• design/construction/maintenance deficiency.
The cause of fire for about 40 per cent of
cases was reported as undetermined. This was
due to the complete loss of the structure and
contents, making it difficult to determine the
cause.
What are the primary sources of ignition?
The data suggests primary ignition sources fall
within the