An Olymel hog barn in Saskatchewan burned down, killing more than 10,000 pigs. The facility is located near Sturgis, about an hour north of Yorkton. Olymel spokesperson Richard Vigneault confirmed no staff were injured and all the hogs died in the fire.
“It’s very unfortunate,” said Vigneault. “It’s a total loss. Fortunately, all the staff is OK, but the animals all perished.”
Olymel’s Vice-President of Production Casey Smit said it was a finishing barn for pigs of different ages and weights nearly ready to go to food stores.
“There would have been young pigs and older pigs throughout the barn. There are basically two wings in the barn, so it’s a continuous flow of operation,” said Smit.
Smit said the staff called the fire department when they discovered the fire. But it spread too quickly for firefighters to control and the large facility burned to the ground.
“A very unfortunate event. Our staff were on-site. They spotted a fire and called it into 911 immediately,” said Smit.
“Obviously, they exited the building and waited for the fire department to come. But, unfortunately, just for the size of facility and how quickly the fire spread, the fire department wasn’t able to do anything more than sort of monitor the situation and unfortunately, the barn was completely destroyed.”
Vigneault said the fire is being investigated and the cause was “unknown.”
Insurance and Saskatchewan fire investigators are there to investigate the cause of the fire.
About 500-metres away, the fire did not damage a second barn and feed mill.
Most of Olymel’s pork facilities are in Saskatchewan, including breeding, sow barns, and finishers, producing approximately 1.2 million hogs annually.