A dairy barn east of Drayton burned to the ground Friday evening.
The fire was reported shortly before 6 p.m., at a barn on a property on Wellington Road 8.
The property owner’s father, Melvin Martin, says his daughter was using a straw chopper to cut bedding for the animals when she smelled smoke. Within minutes the barn was up in flames.
When family members arrived on scene a short time later, the barn was engulfed and the roof had caved in.
Fire Chief Rick Richardson says there were 72 animals inside the barn, mainly cattle. All were killed except for one calf that managed to escape.
Richardson says smoke from the fire could be seen from several kilometres away.
"It was a big glow. I mean we could see it from Drayton which is approximately 8 kilometres away so we could see that and there was no question what we were coming to," said Richardson.
Roughly 40 firefighters from four different fire stations responded to the blaze. They trucked in water from Drayton in order to protect the rest of the property.
No people were injured in the fire but the fire chief says the losses are substantial.
“The barn, the milk house, the feed room, the upstairs with the straw and downstairs with all the animals is totally gone,” said Richardson.
Damage to the building alone is approximately $200,000.
With reporting by Allison Tanner
