On Feb. 12, a barn fire near Sturgis, Sask. saw the building destroyed and about 10,000 pigs killed.  
No staff were hurt in the blaze.  
The Olymel facility near the east-central Saskatchewan community was a finishing facility known as the Kopje barn.  
Brad Secundiak Fire Chief with the Sturgis Fire Department which responded to the fire said there was little that could be done to save the barn.  
Secundiak said they have been told smoke was seen as early as 10, but the 911 call did not come to their department until 11:31.  
“It didn’t take us that long to get there. It’s only about five miles, but the first barn had already collapsed,” he said, adding at that point they were basically performing a defensive action.  
Secundiak said the initial response was a crew of six.  
“I was going to call for mutual aid (other departments in the region),” he said, but added when they accessed the property the first was at a point additional crews would not have made a difference.  
Olymel has a second barn and feed mill nearby that were not affected.  
Casey Smit with Olymel said barn fires are difficult to control.  
“Typically, they go up pretty quickly,” he said.  
The barn contained pigs of various ages and weights.  
Both Smit and Secundiak said the pigs would have died from smoke inhalation and not from the fire itself.  
It is unclear whether the barn will be replaced at this time.  
“We just haven’t got that far yet,” Smit said (on March 15), more than a month after the fire.  
Smit said the company is still dealing with insurance companies and the investigation into a cause.  
Secundiak said determining a cause is not easy given the heat the fire generated making it difficult to pinpoint the initial point of ignition, and a cause of that ignition.  
Smit said work at the site has started though with “clean up under way.” •
— By Calvin Daniels