The cause of the June 8 inferno that levelled two connecting New Bothwell hog barns remains a mystery. Though investigations have come to a close, investigators from the Office of the Fire Commissioner are suspicious that electrical issues are to blame.
Jason Falk of Hespeler Hog Farms lost more than 4,000 hogs in the harrowing fire that razed two of the five barns onsite. The loss is estimated at over $2 million.
Falk was the first on the scene and called 911 after a neighbour spotted the fire. The New Bothwell Fire Department arrived at around 9:30 p.m. and quickly called in backup from Kleefeld, Grunthal, and Niverville. The crews managed to contain the fire but were unable to save the barns or their inhabitants.
Hanover Fire Chief Paul Wiebe says that his crew has attended similar fires before, but barn fires of this magnitude don’t occur often. In his mind, it’s not likely the flames will have killed the hogs inside.
“Early in a fire like this, there’s a lot of smoke and they usually don’t survive that,” said Wiebe in an interview with CBC. “So, thankfully they probably didn’t suffer too long. Hopefully it was quick for them.”
Falk says that fire prevention is always on his mind. “No one wants to see something like this occur,” says Falk.
He indicates that built-in sprinkler systems have been tried before in barns with little success. Debris build-up and corrosion of the sprinkler nozzles makes them unreliable and extremely high maintenance. Further, the costs of putting in water lines to provide sufficient pressure for such a system is unsustainable when considering the distance most farm properties are from main water line sources.
Shortly after news of the fire was released, social media users began to post online animal rights articles, asserting that hog containment in unprotected barns is a form of abuse.
“For them to call this loss inhumane suggests they know something of the condition of my heart or motivation,” says Falk. “Oxford [Dictionary] defines inhuman as ‘without compassion for misery or suffering. Cruel.’ Was this an accident? Yes. Was this tragic? Yes. Do I lack compassion for misery or suffering? I guess they would need to get to know me to find out. No animal rights activists have spoken to me to discover that.”
The recent fire is only one of the difficult trials the farm has faced this year. All of Falk’s barns onsite tested positive for porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus, which can be fatal for young pigs. Older ones can recover. Labour-intensive practices are required to eradicate the virus from infected barns, and strict protocols are needed to prevent its spread.
“The minute a farm discovers they are positive for PED, all traffic on and off the site must be stopped,” says Falk. “Certain traffic must continue after that point, but it is all very closely monitored and limited to only the absolute minimum.”
He adds that the virus can be transferred to other barns via vehicles or people that have inadvertently carried it with them.
“One infected farm can easily impact, but not necessarily infect, more than 20 other farms without their knowledge.”
Ongoing washing, cleansing, and testing must take place until tests indicate the virus is gone. The addition of emergency crew traffic on the night of the fire will have brought with it concerns of the potential transfer of the PED virus.
Since the fire, Falk says he’s been busy reorganizing his employees in order to keep them on payroll and taking the time to work through the many new questions and challenges.
“Financially, we expect that insurance will come through and carry us through this,” says Falk. “However, there are often some unrelated costs to events like this, so I cannot say for certain the financial impact this will have just yet.”
Falk says he’s deeply grateful to the business associates, friends, and family who have been there to assist and encourage his family.
“Just knowing you have the support and love of the people around you can make such a difference,” says Falk.
