Huge Hog Barn Fire

UPDATE Friday at 4 p.m.

The hog barn fire in the RM of Ste. Anne has been brought under control at approximately 3:30 Friday afternoon.

Steinbach RCMP Sergeant Joanne Ryll says “The fire is still smoldering but there is no longer any danger to surrounding properties. According to the owner of the barn, up to 3,000 pigs may have burned in the fire. The process has now begun to clear the dead animals.”

Ryll adds that fire crews and the office of the fire commissioner are still on scene, and speculates that it may be quite a while before the cause of the fire is determined.

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A hog barn in the RM of Ste. Anne is being quickly consumed due to high winds blowing the fire down the length of the barn.

Reporter Allen Penner describes the fire as huge with 20 foot flames shooting up above the building and taking over the entire barn. Penner says as Ste. Anne and Giroux Fire crews are frantically trying to control the fire, there is no confirmation on what started or caused the fire.

"The fire started in exactly the worst spot for the wind. The wind is blowing the fire across the length of the rest of the barn."

Penner does not know if there were any animals in the barn at the time of the fire. "It looked like there was one part that was newly constructed or was being built onto/being added on to, and that's where the fire may have started - but that's purely speculation."

The hog barn is located one mile east of the #12 Highway on Greenland Road in the RM of St. Anne and emergency crews were called at about 12:45 Friday afternoon.

We will update the story as more information becomes available.