A large fire at a hog barn west of Simcoe resulted in the death of around 20,000 hogs and caused damages estimated at about $30 million, but officials have yet to determine what ignited the flames.
Norfolk County Deputy Fire Chief James Robertson mentioned that the investigation into Tuesday’s fire has now concluded.
“The cause of the fire has been classified as undetermined,” Robertson wrote in a statement to on Thursday. “The Office of the Fire Marshal was notified but declined to attend the scene.”
The blaze destroyed a hog barn measuring approximately 200,000 square feet on Highway 3, making it one of the largest in the province, and led to an estimated loss of 20,000 hogs. Fortunately, no injuries were reported among farm workers or firefighters.
Robertson noted that losses are around $30 million when considering damage to structures, livestock, and other assets.
Firefighters utilized roughly 3.5 million liters of water during their response efforts, which is significantly more than typical daily residential usage.
Despite this high demand for water, staff from Norfolk County’s Water and Wastewater Operations confirmed that firefighters had no trouble accessing sufficient water to fight the fire, according to Robertson.
At peak response times, around 40 firefighters from eight different stations and 15 pieces of equipment were actively engaged on site as teams worked for hours under hot and humid conditions to control the situation.
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