“This silo is 60 feet tall and the flames were on top,” says Chad Fennell, whose barn caught fire late Saturday night near Newbury, Ont.
Fennell was on vacation with his family in Kapuskasing, Ont. and got a call around 11pm as he was going to bed.
“My neighbor who was baling hay called me and said ‘your barn is on fire and it’s really bad,'” says Fennell.
“The calls kept coming in, so I got in my truck, packed up my family and drove all the way here.”
After nearly 10 hours of driving, he returned home to find his property in ruins.
Farmer Chad Fennell lost hay bales, farm equipment, barns and silos in a massive fire in Newbury, Ont. Saturday August 20 (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London) “I’ve lost 400 square bales of hay, I’m missing two barns, I’ve lost three bins of rubbish, I’ve got no winter feed and less equipment than I left,” says Fennell. More than 50 firefighters from Newbury Fire, Brooke-Alvinston Fire and the South West Middlesex Fire Department (SWMFD) responded and worked through the night putting 73,500 gallons of water on the fire. “We estimate the loss at $2 million,” says Colin Shewell, Middlesex fire coordinator and SWMFD chief. “But with the great work of our firefighters we were able to contain the fire and limit the damage to what could have been much worse. They spent the whole night there and this is a great example of mutual aid with our partners. Not only in our county, but in Lambton County as well.” Throughout the morning neighbors and friends arrived at his farm to show support and offer help in any way they could. During the night 15-20 people appeared at the farm. “They fixed the water for the cattle,” says Fennell. “My employees, neighbors and friends floated down here and worked until six in the morning with the fire department trying to shut everything down and see what they could salvage. The fire department and all my friends, employees and family worked very hard last night.” Fennell was told by the fire investigator that the fire was believed to have started in the feed room. Barn fire in Newbury, Ont. on Saturday August 20th it caused $2 million in damage (Source: Owen Simpson) It was full of dust and either a raccoon, a rat or just a short one set fire to the dust and then the south wind blew it into the hay barn. “Even if I was here, there was nothing anyone could do once it started, because it just went up so fast,” says Fennell. He has insurance, although he is not sure what will be covered. As he realizes what happened, he now has concerns about what comes next. “We have a few problems here,” says Fennell. “I don’t have any grain stored for the fall. I don’t have nearly enough winter feed for the cattle and I’m missing some basic tools to use. It’s going to be a bit of an uphill battle here.”
