‘It was an absolutely crazy amount of smoke!’ Second pig barn fire in a month strikes Parkhill-area

Livestock has been killed after a fire ripped through a Parkhill area barn. CTV London’s Sean Irvine has more.

A barn fire, the second in the same area in just over a month, has destroyed property and resulted in the loss of livestock.

The weekend blaze southwest of Parkhill broke out shortly before 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

On Monday morning, smoke still rose from the remains of the large structure.

The daughter-in-law of the property owners was among the first to rush to the scene.

“It was just a lot of embers,” explained Amanda Kustermans. “As I said, the roof had been down. It was not big flames. It was just big smoke. It was an absolutely crazy amount of smoke! Going directly towards the house and directly towards town.”

North Middlesex Fire Chief Greg Vandenheuvel told CTV News crews that four area departments worked defensively to control the blaze. Their greatest challenge was preventing its spread to two nearby buildings.

“There were fuel sources that were very close to the building,” added Kustermans. “The fire departments did an amazing job. They took care of the property. They took care of the fire, and they took care of us, for which we cannot thank them enough.”

Six pigs perished in the blaze, but Kustermans said the loss could have been far greater.

A delivery of more animals had been scheduled for this week.

When combined with livestock sheltered in another barn, Kustermans concedes the potential loss might have been even worse.

“It was just so much smoke and a lot of firefighters who worked so diligently. So, with the other buildings being close, we saved all we could.”

The loss of livestock on Monday pales in comparison to an Oct. 22, when an estimated 3,000 pigs died in a blaze on Elm Tree Drive.

A damage estimate and a cause for Sunday’s fire have yet to be determined.

The blaze is not considered suspicious.