Probe ongoing into blaze that killed 12,000 pigs
Thousands of pigs died when a fire tore through a large barn near Rosetown on Friday night.
The fire, which broke out at the Olymel L.P. production facility around 11:40 p.m., caused extensive damage. Video of the blaze captured by firefighters showed the silhouettes of buildings against a wall of orange flame.
“Fortunately, there were no injuries on the side of our employees,” said Richard Vigneault, a spokesman for the Quebec company.
“We are happy that no one was hurt or injured.”
Vigneault said about 12 employees were working at the location where the blaze took place.
The company is in the process of reassigning them to other locations in the province; Vigneault said they hope the interruption to their work is short.
It’s too early to determine total damages; the cause of the inferno is under investigation by the provincial fire commissioner.
“There will be results, hopefully as soon as possible, to these investigations,” Vigneault said in a phone interview from Montreal.
Dennis Ogg, chief of the Rosetown fire department, said crews were called to the blaze just after midnight on Saturday morning.
A fire engine, a utility truck and seven firefighters were dispatched to the scene about 45 minutes northwest of Rosetown.
As crews arrived, they could see the barn was “fully involved” in the blaze, Ogg said. Crews remained on Saturday afternoon, but Rosetown firefighters concluded their work at the scene on Saturday afternoon, he said. Of the 12,000 animals, Vigneault said 1,200 were sows and 10,800 were piglets.