News
Monday, August 8, 2022
Doug Burgin still cannot believe his eyes.
The Essa Township fire chief is applauding neighbouring residents and the local farming community after they stepped up to provide assistance during a devastating fire that broke out in a cattle barn near the County Road 27 and 20th Sideroad intersection Aug. 7. This blaze resulted in the death of 52 dairy cows.
By Sunday evening, farmers had started showing up with trailers, offering to house the nearly 140 cattle that had escaped the barn.
“Four to five hours after that, they had all the milking cows taken care of and transferred to other locations,” said Burgin, who called the fire one of the largest he’d seen in 22 years at the department. “It was a very quick response. The farming community’s unbelievable; it is quite a unique operation.”
A veterinarian also arrived on site to check on the animals, he said.
Multiple farm buildings were damaged, including the large 300- to 400-foot-long, interconnected barn structure and a shed that was storing straw and equipment. Ontario’s Office of the Fire Marshal will not be investigating. The blaze is not considered suspicious.
Embers from the barn also started a grass fire across the road, Burgin said.
Damage is estimated at between $5 million to $6 million, though it could have been worse. A change in wind direction likely saved the farmhouse.
“There’s no way we can come up with a cause,” Burgin said. “The level of damage is just too great.”
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Brian Staley, who owns Ref’s Pizza and Sweet Tooth Scoops ice cream shop in Thornton, saw the smoke coming from Innisfil Beach Road.
“My heart sank when I saw what was unfolding,” he said. “My first thought was these firefighters are going to need some beverages. It was so hot and humid. So I went to Cookstown and grabbed some cases of pop, water and ice, (then) stopped by Essa fire department and asked if they could use some pizzas.”
He left there, went to Ref’s and told staff to stop receiving calls from the public because they would need oven space to do pizzas for first responders and the affected farming family, the Kloostermans.
“On our way to deliver pizzas to the Kloostermans, we were stopped by Mr. (Kistler) of Keck Boarding Kennels on 27. He asked if I had pizzas for the farmers that were lined up with their trailers taking away cattle. Of course I said ‘yes’, so back to the pizza shop (I went),” Staley said.
“We delivered a few to the farmers, then a few to Essa fire on Robert Street, then some slices to the police officers that had all routes blocked off. I wanted to help — and the only way I can help is to be a good neighbour.”
Staley called the community response “so touching.”
“Those (firefighters) must have lost 10 pounds each in sweat,” he said. “But they were so well organized and so calm. Amazing to see these heroes in action. My heart goes out to the Kloostermans. They are well known in our community as an amazing, hard-working family. Thornton is such an amazing little town.”
The family declined a request for an interview.
“He’s devastated,” Burgin said of the farm owner. “When we arrived, (the fire) was totally involved, front to back.”
Firefighters worked throughout the night and still had one hot spot to put out when Simcoe.com visited the scene on Monday around noon.
Burgin also stressed the importance of drivers abiding by the rules of the road, after reports some emergency crews were blocked by onlookers.
“Vehicles are supposed to pull to the right and get out of the way of emergency vehicles with lights,” he said. “For rural firefighting, once we get out of our hydrant-protected areas, we have to shuttle our water to tanker trucks. People think once the truck’s there it’s not going anywhere.”
Source: Simcoe.com
