An inferno that caused an estimated $500,000 in damage completely destroyed the barn and contents of a Morinville-area elk ranch, Tuesday morning.
Morinville, Namao, Legal and Calahoo fire crews swarmed the Smokin’ Elk Ranch just west of Morinville Tuesday morning after a sizeable blaze broke out in its main barn.
The elk were outside at the time of the blaze and were unharmed, but 40 heritage chickens being raised by the farmer’s 13-year-old daughter were killed.
The fire, the cause of which had not been determined by press time, appears to have started sometime between 10 and 10:24 a.m., said Carolin Visscher, co-owner of the ranch.
Her husband Bill had just returned from feeding the chickens in the barn at around 10 a.m., she said. Soon after, the phone she was using crackled and died, and her son discovered that the water faucets weren’t working.
“We were just sitting down for coffee when the neighbours drove down the driveway,” she said. “We met them outside and they said, ‘Your barn’s on fire.’”
This surprised them, said Bill, who explained that they could not see the barn from where they were in the house.
“The fire was already coming out the top when we knew about it,” he said.
The fire was accompanied by thick black smoke. Bill quickly moved a large green tractor away from the inferno.
“I could feel the heat,” he said.
Fire crews got the call at about 10:24 a.m., said Sturgeon County fire chief Pat Mahoney. When they arrived, the building was already completely ablaze.
Crews immediately set about containing the fire to keep it away from nearby vehicles and natural gas lines, said Brian Johnston, the incident commander and member of the Morinville Fire Department.
“When you come into a fire this size, there’s not much of a hope of actually saving anything in the fire itself. You want to make sure it doesn’t extend beyond where it is right now,” he said.
Crews had the fire contained by about 11:50 a.m., Mahoney said, and spent the next several hours hosing down hot spots. By that time, the barn had been reduced to a twisted, blackened mess of smoking metal.
Crews hauled aside large sheets of aluminium to get at hot spots, eventually bringing in heavy equipment to help.
The 26-by-41 metre barn was originally built in 2001, and was insured, Bill said. It was also the ranch’s main elk-handling facility, and would have been used to birth elk in about two weeks.
He and Carolin said they had no idea what could have caused the fire.
“This is a total shock to us,” Carolin said.
The barn itself did contain propane tanks and oil drums at the time, as well as a Ford tractor and gravel truck, all of which were destroyed.
Johnston pegged the damages at about $500,000, including the barn and the vehicles in it.
“There’s nothing salvageable in here,” he said.
No one was hurt in the fire, Mahoney said. The elk were unharmed, with many calmly strolling about the field next to the still-smoking wreck. Much of the smoke had been blown up and away from the elk, which may have kept them calm, Johnston said.
The fire took out the cistern that supplied water to their house, Bill said, so they’ll need to find a new way to get their taps running. It also destroyed the freezer that held the elk meat they supplied to local businesses, Carolin said, meaning they won’t have any meat to sell for a few months.
“This is quite devastating for us,” she said. “It’s going to really hamper the business.”
