Investigations continue into the cause of a fire that destroyed a 1,200 sow breeding operation at Jasmin, Sask.
Volunteer fire departments responded to the late night fire Jan. 27 to find it raging in four barns linked by corridors.
Outbuildings, hoppers and a residence where two employees lived were all that could be saved on the site, which was built in 1998. Nobody was injured, but all the animals died.
Linda Nelson of Hypor, which owned the barns, said the 18 workers are devastated by the fire.
“We are dealing with the people and helping them get through it,” she said. “They had a close attachment to the animals.”
A damage estimate wasn’t available, but Nelson said these specially bred pigs have a higher value than ones raised for slaughter in commercial barns.
Hypor has not announced if it will rebuild the barns, which housed purebred Landrace, Large White and Duroc lines.
It was one of three Hypor Canada owned operations, with the remaining two units continuing to supply domestic customers.
Hypor is one of the world’s top three pig genetics companies.
