An Alberta car collector is devastated after he lost more than an estimated $3 million worth of uninsured antique cars and trucks in a fire on Thursday afternoon.
The once-pristine antiques were reduced to charred rubble and piles of scrap metal after a fire burned through the 27,000 square-foot dairy barn where Bert Curtiss store his collection.
Curtiss, who lives just outside of Olds, Alta., says the barn contained more than 40 classic cars and another 40 antique tractors. Also lost in the fire were two balers and various pieces of farming equipment including a back hoe, a skid steer and multiple quads.
“Some of these cars I’ve had for 40 years,” Curtiss told CTV Calgary. “I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of hours working on them.”
Curtiss said neither the dairy barn nor any of its contents were insured.
The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation. However, fire officials say they do not believe it is suspicious. Investigators say the fire may have started in an area of the barn where car parts were stored together.
“It is what it is,” said Curtiss. “I guess I’ve lost 45 years of work.”
Curtiss says he's giving up his hobby of restoring cars. Instead, he'll look for something else.
“I don’t know what I’ll do.”
With a report from CTV Calgary's Taylor Oseen
