SASKATOON (Staff) – Calahoo-area hog producer Marcel Kerckhof already has plans to rebuild the barn that burned Jan. 9 killing 700 hogs.
Located about 45 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, the finishing barn and animals were part of Kerckhof’s 2,200 farrow-to-finish operation. Insurance coverage should allow him to rebuild, Kerckhof said last week, and he’ll use the old foundation of the 12-metre by 36-metre barn if the footings survived major damage.
Cause of the fire hadn’t been determined as of last week but Kerckhof is assuming a fan or electrical short touched off the blaze which was first discovered by neighbors at about 8:30 p.m. Fire departments from three surrounding districts responded and fought the fire until about 3 a.m., Kerckhof said.
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“I feel a little better today,” he added last week, after cleanup had begun on barn debris and carcasses. “I wasn’t too much in a talking mood on Monday. … I’ll rebuild when it gets warm enough.”
He and his neighbors said calm conditions that night, which had temperatures of -35¡, probably helped save adjoining barns. Fire damage to an alley connecting the lost barn and the farrowing barn showed it was a close call.
Kerckhof estimates his loss at $200,000 to $230,000.
