Farm building code considered in wake of hog-barn fires
Thu Jun 26, 4:52 PM

WINNIPEG (CBC) - The deaths of thousands of hogs in several barn fires this year has prompted the provincial fire commissioner's office to consider the creation of a farm building code.

More than 6,000 pigs were killed Wednesday in a hog fire near Zhoda, Man., south of Steinbach. The fire is still under investigation, as is one of two other hog-barn fires this year that together have killed more than 21,000 animals.

Farms have not been included in past building codes because barns were typically much smaller than they are today, said deputy fire commissioner Chris Jones.

"We find that most of the fires in the past in farming industries where there are large operations - hog operations, dairy cows, that type of stuff - we find that the majority of those are due to mechanical failures, and because there isn't a code, the flame spreads very quickly," he said.

The recent fires demonstrate that changes are needed, he said.

"Some of the other things that are prompting the discussion is the ability for insurance on farm properties," he noted.

"That's a significant impact to the farming industry, and I think that's another part that plays a factor."

The fire commissioner's office is already discussing what might be required in a farm building code with farm groups and insurance agencies, Jones said.