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I'll be on vacation, so there won't be an online issue for June 4, 2003. Please enjoy the printed edition this week.
Grain Elevator Fire
David Schier and Mike Jackson of the Blackie Fire Department soak hot spots in the remains of the High River elevator that burned down early Monday morning.
- photo by John Barlow
Fire destroys historic High River grain elevator
By
Editor
High River lost one of its landmarks on Monday morning when its last grain elevator was ravaged by fire.
At approximately 5:30 am Monday morning the High River Fire Department responded to the blaze, but its was too late to save the historic building.
High River fire chief Len Zebedee said the focus for the firefighters was to contain the blaze and protect several adjacent buildings which were in danger of being absorbed by the blaze.
'The building was fully involved when we arrived on the scene,' said Zebedee. 'It is just like a fire place with all that old wood.'
In less than 45 minutes the elevator had collapsed.
More than 40 firefighters battled the blaze and fought to protect several other historic buildings nearby such as the Museum of the Highwood and the Gateway Hotel.
Firefighters from High River, Cayley, Blackie and Okotoks were called in to assist.
The manpower proved critical as hot embers from the elevator spread up to four blocks.
Thankfully, surrounding buildings only suffered minor damage.
Zebedee admits that the blaze could have been worse — much worse.
'Had we had a strong wind like there was on the weekend we could have lost one-third of this community,' said Zebedee. 'It could have been far more devastating than it was. We were very fortunate the wind was in our favor — it was our saving grace.'
Not only was the wind blowing in their favor, but the firefighters worked valiantly to ensure the collateral damage was kept to a minimum.
'The fire crews did a tremendous job,' said Zebedee. 'I have to hand it to them.'
As a result, only one other building incurred severe damage as the strip mall directly south of the elevator endured substantial heat damage. The Gateway Hotel and Little Bow Lanes also suffered minor exposure damage.
There were no severe injuries as a result of the fire, but some firefighters did sustain minor injuries and were treated for heat exhaustion.
There is no estimate on the cost of the damage and a cause of the blaze has yet to be determined.
Zebedee said uncovering a cause for the fire will be challenging as charred remains is all that is left of the elevator.
'We will do our best to determine what happened,' said the fire chief.
The High River Fire Department had identified the elevator as a high risk building and had requested chain link fencing be erected around the building.
In addition, the fire department had developed a fire plan several years ago specifically for the elevator should it ever catch fire.
Current Weather in Okotoks
Mad Cow Disease - tests on herd prove negative
By
Editor
Mad cow disease continues to be a significant concern to Alberta ranchers despite tests indicating the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) may have been an isolated case.
Mad cow disease was discovered in a cow last Tuesday at a ranch near Fairview. As a result, approximately 190 cows from the herd were destroyed and tested for BSE.
On Monday Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Department announced initial tests done on the rest of the herd by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) indicated no other cases of BSE.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein said the test results are welcome news for the province's beef industry.
'We have always remained confident in our beef industry,' said Klein who called an emergency meeting of Cabinet on Monday. 'These results are the first step forward in resolving this issue and getting past this difficult time for our industry and for all Albertans.'
Despite Klein's assurances that the issue is being resolved, Deputy Premier and Minister of Agriculture Shirley McClellan said there is a long way to go before the issue is closed.
'It is good news that this herd is free of BSE, but we will keep these results in perspective. The investigation is justifiably widespread and it is continuing.'
Although the 190 cows tested from the ranch of Marwyn Peaster, where the initial case was discovered and tested negative, another Alberta ranch was quarantined on Sunday.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency there are now 17 farms quarantined including 12 in Alberta, three in B.C. and two in Saskatchewan.
Therefore it is clear investigators are still trying to pinpoint the origin of the BSE disease.
As a result, the CFIA is continuing its efforts to try and find the origin of BSE that infected the Alberta cow. In addition, they are continuing to track rendered remains and the calves of the lone cow infected with BSE.
Unlike foot and mouth disease, mad cow disease is not spread through contact — just because one animal in a herd may be infected others may not.
BSE infects an animal by being ingested. BSE collects in the brain tissue and spine of a cow and those materials are rarely used for human consumption. Rather, those remains, or offal, are processed into cattle feed.
Ruminant (multi-stomached animal) to ruminant feeding is illegal, but offal can be sent to a rendering plant and processed into feed to take advantage of the high nitrogen content.
A local rancher explained, 'You can't grind up a cow and feed it to the herd,' he said. 'That is illegal now, but dead cows can go to a rendering plant to make fertilizer and that can also be fed back to the cows.'
Therefore, the key for the CFIA may be to track feed used at the Peaster farm and the complete history of the eight-year-old cow that was infected with BSE.
BSE has a long incubation period and infected cattle may not show any symptoms of mad cow disease such as stumbling for many years.
Mad cow disease was first discovered in the United Kingdom in 1986 and resulted in the slaughter of 3.7 million cattle.
However, the Alberta cattle industry cannot wait eight years to see if more cattle are infected with BSE.
Due to the concern over BSE several countries including the United States closed its borders to Canadian beef exports. Also, many Canadian buyers are balking at Alberta beef.
It is estimated those bans are costing the beef industry $11 million per day despite no reported human health risks.
'So far, it appears that no risks to human health have emerged,' said Klein. 'However, a comprehensive provincial strategy is needed to deal with the immediate issues of human and animal health risks and how to manage the disease, as well as longer term issue of restoring full confidence in the beef industry, both at home and abroad.'
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