Pictou County farm loses chickens, equipment in barn fire

On overnight fire near River John, N.S., destroyed a barn. (CBC - image credit)
On overnight fire near River John, N.S., destroyed a barn. (CBC - image credit)

A barn on Nova Scotia's North Shore was completely destroyed in a fire early Sunday morning that killed chickens inside and wrecked equipment.

The River John Fire Department was called to a structure fire at an address on the Sunrise Trail between River John and Marshville in Pictou County around 2 a.m., according to Chief John MacLellan.

It was a "fairly large fire, but it was fully engulfed when we got there. So there wasn't a whole lot we could do other than just pour a lot of water on it," MacLellan said.

Everything in the barn was lost, including some chickens and equipment like a tractor and truck, MacLellan said. Luckily, MacLellan said he believes cattle at the farm made it out safely since they were out in the yard when crews arrived.

No injuries reported

When they first arrived, MacLellan said the wind was blowing toward a nearby house so they worked to make sure the flames did not spread.

But soon afterwards, he said the wind swung the opposite way and helped firefighters put it out more easily.

No one was injured, but the barn was completely destroyed.

While not all the details are known yet, MacLellan said police also responded to the fire and left relatively early after determining there wasn't anything suspicious.

MacLellan said they wrapped up the scene just before 6 a.m.

Three other nearby stations also responded to the blaze, including Tatamagouche, Scotsburn and Caribou.

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