It was a busier than usual week for Carman’s fire departments, as they were dispatched to a series of fires.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 26, the Carman Dufferin Fire Department was requested for mutual aid to a structure fire at a dairy barn in the RM of Grey near Haywood. Firefighters responded with two pumpers, a tanker and a QRV (quick-response vehicle). Crews worked hard for several hours to keep the fire from spreading.
The four fire departments involved in helping with the blaze were St. Claude, Elm Creek, Carman-Dufferin, and Rathwell. Treherne RCMP and an ambulance were also on the scene.
The dairy barn fire is believed to have started from a piece of equipment called a bale buster. However, the Carman Dufferin Fire Department noted that the official cause is still under investigation.
“We responded as a mutual aid call for Elm Creek, and we took four trucks, including two pumpers, the tanker and Quick Response Vehicle and over a dozen firefighters,” said Carman Dufferin deputy fire chief Joey McElroy.
“When we arrived, the owner had opened the doors for the animals to escape and there were hundreds of cows just roaming the yard. From what we saw, they were contained and hauled out with livestock trailers fairly quickly.”
The fire departments were told that the dairy barn’s animal loss was relatively low, expected to be less than 10 out of the approximately 450 cows.
“For a while, we had our crews working on the roof, creating a fire break ahead of the fire to stop it from spreading, while there were some Elm Creek and St Claude firefighters working inside the attic. The fire grew quicker than that could be completed, and those firefighters had to evacuate the building and roof for their safety.”
At that point, the goal was to try and keep the fire from spreading to the calf barn at the west end, as well as the silage pile on the south side of the barn. An excavator and loader were used to help move debris around to contain it.
“By the time we were done cleaning up our equipment, we had just about eight hours invested into that fire,” said McElroy. “Elm Creek and St Claude’s fire department stayed on scene to monitor things.”
“It was a great job by the surrounding community in helping out rounding up the herd, helping to organize shipping the cows elsewhere so that they can be milked and properly cared for,” added Leen Blok, deputy fire chief of the Elm Creek (RM of Grey) Fire Department. “It was a job well done by firefighters, but we’re never happy when we lose a structure. The last crew left at 11:50 p.m.”
Unfortunately, the workday wasn’t yet done for Carman Dufferin firefighters. At approximately 10:45 p.m. on that same night, the Carman Dufferin Fire Department was dispatched to reports of a structure fire in the Town of Carman at a garage in the back lane behind 2nd Street SW.
When firefighters arrived, they found a detached garage that was fully engulfed. Crews were able to contain the blaze over four hours before it spread to neighbouring buildings, and some of the neighbouring buildings sustained minor damage.
There were no occupants in the garage at the time of the blaze, and those who lived in the house on the property were fine.
“When we got there, the detached garage was fully involved and threatening the neighbour’s garage, power lines and even the house in the yard of the garage,” said McElroy. “Our crews brought multiple hose lines to the backyard and attacked the fire, knocking it down quickly. We were on scene for several hours extinguishing hot spots and cleaning our equipment again.”
The Carman Dufferin Fire Department maintained personnel on the scene overnight and into the morning as the Office of the Fire Commissioner sent out an investigator.
At this point, the cause is still under investigation with the Office of the Fire Commissioner.
Standard Photos by Joey McElroy
On Aug. 26, the Carman Dufferin Fire Department split their day between putting out a major fire at a dairy barn outside Haywood and putting out a garage fire in the Town of Carman
