8 Better Pork June 2016 COVER STORY J ohn Van Engelen was 15 when the dairy barn on his parents’ farm erupted in flames. “It started from a tractor,” he recalls. “The muffler was close to the ceiling, where the hayloft was, and the sparks went up in the hayloft.” Ever since, the Thedford-area farrow- to-finish farmer, now 55, takes his fire prevention routine seriously. Every farmer fears fire, says Bruce Kelly, environmental program coordi- nator for Farm and Food Care Ontario. “Nobody wants to lose their business in a fire. You work so hard to build your business and your barns, the plant, and the critters in them,” he says. “It’s a ter- rible life-altering event.” Industry and government, too, are aware of the risk. Insurance compa- nies, for example, now routinely visit livestock farms and assess risks using infrared cameras. In 2011, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) published Reducing the Risk of Fire on Your Farm , a manual that offers practical fire prevention steps. The manual is on the ministry’s website, as are other related fact sheets and information. Judging by the overall numbers, these initiatives appear to have had a positive effect. Total barn fire numbers are dwindling. In 2014, there were 150 incidents, down 34 from 2008. But the number of fires prompting agriculture ministry staff to issue information about dead-stock management regulations is rising. Four such fires happened in 2013. Last year there were 16 and this year the count by the end of April is 14, including two high-profile horse- barn fires. Combined, those two fires destroyed 49 horses and their loss sparked public outcry. A Jan. 19 article in the Toronto Star noted that Ontario regulations do not require barns to have sprinkler systems or fire alarms. An animal rights group, Canadians for Ethical Treatment of Farmed Animals, wants the National Farm Animal Care Council to establish codes of practice for fire prevention and suppression. The public reaction makes Van Engelen uneasy. In his barns, built in Lambton hog producer John Van Engelen holds a copy of a report his insurance company gave him after inspecting the farm premises with an infrared camera in 2012. Van Engelen says the report contained some minor recommendations to improve fire safety in the facility. Those changes were completed before the com- pany’s followup visit two years later.