Rabbit Advocacy Animal Matters

 

300 cows die in Quebec barn fire 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014 CTV News 

A farm fire killed hundreds of young cows overnight, north of St. Hyacinthe. The fire started around 11:30 p.m. Monday in two barns on Rang Bourgchemin Ouest in Saint Hugues. 

When firefighters arrived the barns were engulfed in flames, and by 1 a.m. nothing was left except for charred wreckage as the buildings collapsed. 

About 300 calves died in the flames. The cause of the fire is unknown. (tragic & heartbreaking)

Green Oaks Dairy Farm fire battled by multiple crews

June 29, 2015 CBC News excerpt (Nova Scotia)

It's a devastating day for a family in Colchester County operating a dairy farm in Green Oaks after a fire broke out shortly after 9 a.m. on Monday. Firefighters from eight departments were called to the commercial dairy barn, about 20 kilometres south of Truro, after the Green Oaks Dairy Farm caught fire. More than six tanker trucks hauled in water from several kilometres away at the Shubenacadie River. 

The milking herd didn't make it out of the barn, which has since collapsed. The number of cattle that died has not been confirmed. Some heifers were in a separate area and survived. Family members and friends consoled each other near the charred remains of the building.

Just in the past year, almost 60,000 animals have burned alive in barn fires in Canada

January 24, 2018 E-1452 (Building Code) Barn fires. Please sign this new petition to the Canadian government.
https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-1452

July 30, 2018 A reply from Iain Stewart, President of the National Research Council of Canada, was sent to Ms. Gooch in response to her email of June 12th, regarding updates to barn building codes. Barn fires are preventable. Far too many animals have suffered tremendously before perishing.  

Reply excerpt: The National Model Codes are overseen by the Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes (CCBFC) – an independent committee of experts that was established by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). They are also the experts responsible for the National Farm Code. 

The CCBFC recently decided to take requirements from the 1995 National Farm Code (fire safety, structural safety, etc.) and incorporate them into the National Building and Fire Codes.

The Model Code development process allows any Canadian can submit requested Code changes or amendments through the CCBFC. Suggestions can be submitted through the code change request.

The CCBFC develops the Model Codes; however, it is the Provinces and Territories who are responsible for adopting and enforcing them. The updated National Building and Fire Codes, including barn safety measures, will be released to the Provinces and Territories in 2020.

Barn Fire Safety Checklist

Read more about barn fires to date on our Factory Farming page

October 3, 2018 Barn Fire Report Documents 2.7 million+ farm animal deaths

Washington, DC—Today, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) released a first-of-its-kind report highlighting the more than 2.7 million US farm animals who perished in potentially preventable barn fires from 2013 to 2017. The report, issued in advance of National Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 7-13), offers recommendations for barn fire prevention and improved fire safety to better protect farm animals. No farm animal should ever burn to death in a fire that could have been prevented. Chickens represented 95 percent of all farm animals who died in barn fires. The report: Barn fires: A Deadly Threat to Farm Animals