OLDS — Firefighters responded to five calls in 10 hours on Jan. 25, including a raging fire that completely destroyed a barn west of Olds.
The day began with a call for medical assistance.
Then a fire alarm sounded at an apartment building during the morning rush hour. When firefighters got there, they only found a ruptured water pipe.
At mid-morning, 16 firefighters from Olds, Sundre, and Didsbury were called to a barn fire in the Harmattan area.
They fought the fire for about two hours in frigid temperatures, but the barn was a total loss.
There were no injuries as a result of the fire.
A cow and newborn calf that were in the barn at the time of the fire were saved by the owners before firefighters arrived.
The cause of that fire is still being investigated but it is not deemed to be suspicious.
While that barn fire was being fought, Olds firefighters were called to another call for medical assistance. Crews that remained in town handled it.
Shortly after that, Olds firefighters were called to another fire alarm. It turned out to have been spurred by call for a malfunctioning sprinkler system.
There was no loss as a result of this malfunction and service was restored immediately.
“Unfortunately for everyone involved, sometimes these little runs of calls happen and can’t be explained,” fire chief Justin Andrew said in a news release.
“We are thankful there were no injuries, but we are disappointed for the farmer who lost their barn on their very first day of calving.”
