A devastating barn fire in Quinte West has left about 1200 pigs dead.
Quinte West fire chief John Whelan says the call came in at around 1:30 p.m., to a rural property on Gallivan Road. When crews arrived, the barn was engulfed in flames.
"They could see the smoke emanating from one part of the barn," said Whelan.
"I called for Belleville and Stirling, we had 8 tankers and 3 pumpers trying to put the fire out."
About 40 firefighters from the three stations responded to the blaze.
"One other area the fire hadn't reached yet is where a lot of the animals were so we had crews going in and getting the animals out," said Whelan.
"After we had about 100 out, part of the barn collapsed that's where I had to make a decision for our firefighters safety out."
Whelan was left with no choice but to pull his crews out.
"Very intense flames, with any barn fire structure it's dry wood, so really it turns into a deep-seated fire," said Whelan.
Whelan says in his 30 years on the job, this day was especially difficult.
"I'm an animal lover myself so when you hear animals screaming and crying and a couple piglets coming out on fire, it's not your normal fire," said Whelan.
"It was an emotional day but you got to realize we all did the best we could and none of the firefighters were injured and I feel good about that."
Crews remained on scene well into the night to put out hot spots, while injured pigs were euthanized.
Whelan says the cause of the fire is electrical and the nature is accidental. There were incubators inside the barns for the newborn pigs but it's unclear if that was where the fire originated.
No one was hurt in the blaze that caused more than $1 million dollars in damages. The Ontario Fire Marshall has also been notified.
