Belleville’s fire department joins barn fire safety campaign

By Brittany Woodcock

BELLEVILLE – To say enough is enough with barn fires, Belleville’s fire department is teaming up with the Ontario Fire & Life Safety Educators, also known as the OFLSE, as a part of a province-wide barn fire safety campaign.

This comes three years after the Classy Lane Stable fire where 43 racehorses died.

Barn fires aren’t a new problem but there are plenty of reasons to start an awareness campaign, said fire chief Mark MacDonald in a press release.

“The Classy Lane fire brought a spotlight to the issue of barn fires in terms of media and general public interest, but this has been an ongoing issue for decades,” he said. “Too many lives, livelihoods and legacies have been wiped out. The fire service has to stand together with the agricultural industry and say, ‘enough is enough; no more barn fires.'”

Fire departments across the province are working with agricultural stakeholders in their communities to build fire safety plans and raise awareness.

On the OFLSE website it says ““Each year, barn fires rack up millions of dollars in loss and take the lives of thousands of animals. In minutes, a barn fire can wipe out the hard work of generations of dedication to breeding, production, showing and training programs.”

Most barn fires go undetermined due to damages. But to those that are determined, electrical and heating appliances are the number one cause, according to the website.

“Barn fires are preventable and often can be avoided with simple maintenance steps,” said the OFLSE.

If you want to know more about barn fires can be prevented, check out this document provided by OFLSE.