(Facebook/ Hague Fire Dept.)

By Nigel Maxwell

Dairy fire

Six-hundred straw bales destroyed during dairy farm fire

May 30, 2019 | 2:00 PM

Thick plumes of black smoke could be seen billowing from a dairy farm in the Hague area Wednesday, as fire crews worked all afternoon and night to contain a large bale fire.

Members of the Hague Fire Department were dispatched to the fire at 3:37 p.m. Fire Chief Dane Friesen said they received assistance from both the Osler and Rosthern Fire Departments, the provincial government, as well as farmers in the area.

“They were right in the area so they quit what they were doing and moved their equipment to right close to a lagoon near the farm, and they hauled probably thousands and thousands gallons [of water],” he said.

(Facebook/Hague Fire Dept.)

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Friesen said the initial fire was caused by a truck hauling manure, which caught fire as the load was getting dumped. The fire then spread to the grass, and skipped over the road to the farmer’s main yard, where all the feed was kept.

“This dairy farm is I would guess a 500 plus dairy farm, so there are huge dollars there worth of feed,” Friesen explained.

The dry, windy conditions made suppression efforts more challenging. Friesen added crews were able to save the farmer’s silage and none of the animals were hurt. Crews remained on scene until 3 a.m.Thursday morning.

(Facebook/ Hague Fire Dept.)

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell