A massive fire ripped through a barn near Maxville on Monday night killing more than 150 cattle inside.

Five fire crews from the area responded to the blaze around 5p.m. and say within 15 minutes of their arrival there was hardly anything to salvage.

“It was fanned by high winds and there is ventilation in the barn that didn’t help,” said District Fire Chief Bernard Lalonde from Alexandria fire.

The barn belongs to Raymond Leduc from Leducdale Farm who says he ran outside to try and save his cattle when he saw the smoke.

“I just opened the door a bit hoping I could go get the cattle out this way – I nearly fell over, it was black smoke – it was awful.”

Leduc says inside the barn were calves and heifers – the future of his business. The silos outside of the bard were also damaged.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Total damage is estimated at more than $1 million.