‘It was a tough deal’ — weekend fire causes estimated $700,000 damage on Whatcom farm
A fire on a Whatcom County farm Saturday morning caused an estimated $600,000 to $700,000 worth of damage to two feed storage bunkers and the crops that were being kept inside. Fortunately, no people or livestock were injured in the blaze.
“It was a tough deal — a huge loss,” Whatcom County Fire District 14 Chief Jerry Debruin told The Bellingham Herald.
Firefighters were called at approximately 5:15 a.m. Saturday to the fire on Hill Road south of Sumas for a fire on a farm, Debruin said.
The arrived to find the roof burning and already beginning to collapse on a pair of silo bunkers used to store feed, including hay and cottonseed, used to feed dairy cattle.
“All we could really do is put a lot of water on it and try to put it out the best we could until we got some excavators in there to pull things down,” Debruin said.
Fire crews were able to keep flames from spreading to nearby barns though, but some nearby corn did get scorched, Debruin said.
Firefighters were on scene until after noon, as it took a while to make sure all the hot spots were out.
“Thanks to all the farmers and friends for bringing equipment and help to extinguish the fire!” Whatcom County Fire District 14 posted on Facebook along with some drone footage captured by the Sumas Police Department.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, but Debruin said an electrical issue or a panel box may be the culprit.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
