‘A total loss:’ Brooklyn barn destroyed by weekend fire

The owners of a Brooklyn barn that hasn’t housed livestock in a couple of years looked outside Saturday afternoon only to see it fully engulfed in flames.

Shortly after 4 p.m. on

April 10, the owners alerted 911 to a fire on their property, located in the 900 block of Highway 215.

Brooklyn’s fire chief Jason Cochrane lives nearby and was on scene within two minutes of the initial page.

“The whole building was on fire when I arrived,” said Cochrane

in a phone interview.

Cochrane said the homeowners were inside when they heard some noises outdoors. When one of them looked out the window, they saw smoke.

“There was heavy fire, heavy smoke. It was fully involved at that time. It probably burned for some time unnoticed before it was called in,” he said.

Cochrane said no animals were inside the building as it was being used for personal storage. He said there also wasn’t any large machinery inside the structure, but noted there was some leftover hay. “It’s a total loss,” he said. The building was about 20 feet by 40 feet in size, Cochrane said, and there were several small outbuildings nearby. One small shed caught fire but it was extinguished before it could spread inside.

“Wind was actually in our favour,” said Cochrane, noting it was blowing the smoke and fire away from the home.

“I think if there had been a wind towards their home or a neighbouring home, we could have had more damage,” he said, adding that firefighters also worked to prevent a grass fire.

Firefighters from Brooklyn Stations 1 and 2, Hantsport, Summerville, Windsor and Uniacke were on scene at the structure fire. Nova Scotia Power attended, as did the RCMP and EHS.

One firefighter was assessed on scene after tripping but did not require transport to the hospital.

“With the terrain and wires and fencing, there was a lot of trip hazards. Mud was knee-deep in places,” said Cochrane.

“It was a trip. There was no injury — just an assessment for reassurance.”

Cochrane said with the warmer weekend weather, having enough personnel to combat fires is always a challenge. However, the turnout on April 10 was excellent, he said.

“It was a great turnout from the departments that were paged. It’s certainly reassuring as a chief that we have the response from the mutual aid neighbours,” he said.

The cause of the fire is unknown due to the extensive damage to the building.